Allurement of the Vampire
by Yugisrose
Summary: One year after the ceremonial duel, Yami finds himself in Domino City not knowing how he got there. However, the main issue for the ex-pharaoh isn't that the world is in an apocalyptic state full of vampires, or that he is part vampire himself. What is really bothering him is that Yugi doesn't remember him and yet they are supposed to work together to save the world...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Darkness.

That was all that Yami could remember after losing his duel with Yugi. The doors to the afterlife closed with such an absolute finality that he was positive that that encounter was the last time he would see any of his friends. Yami knew that he would miss them… more than they would ever know. It was that reason that stopped him from looking at them before the doors closed. He feared that if he looked back, that he wouldn't be able to leave. So, when the doors closed, it was almost a relief. The temptation lifted and he could finally rest in the afterlife.

Perpetual darkness surrounded him like a cloak for an unknowable amount of time, and Yami figured that eventually, he would join his friends and family in the Egyptian afterlife. It wasn't until the space around him shifted and he lost track of everything that things started to get weird. It felt like he was being sucked through a narrow pipe very quickly and it took a while before he could open his eyes. His vision was fuzzy at first but it soon cleared.

Yami suddenly found himself lying in the middle of a deserted road. He sat up, shook his head to clear it and looked around. It looked like Domino City, but it was practically unrecognizable. The city itself looked completely abandoned. Every window on all of the buildings looked either shattered or cracked in some way. Trash littered the streets and collected themselves in piles at the bases of the buildings as if the wind constantly pushed them that way. The sky was overcast and made everything look duller than usual.

The ex-pharaoh stood looking around feeling perplexed. Where was he? Was this actually Domino City or someplace else? Where was everybody? Yami looked down at himself and received a small shock. He was wearing the same clothing that Yugi always wore…it was Domino High's school uniform. The Millennium Puzzle hung around his neck like it always had. Why was he wearing this and why was he sent _here_ and not in the afterlife? Was this even happening or was it a dream?

Questions like these buzzed around in Yami's head for a few minutes before the sounds of footsteps made him turn around. A teenager was walking around thirty yards away, his hands in his pockets looking bored. He would stop and seemingly sniff the air for a moment and then continue on with the same dull expression on his face. Yami decided to get the stranger's attention.

"Excuse me…" he yelled out to the teen, who looked at him like a dog that caught onto a scent. "Can you tell me where I am? I think I'm lost…"

The teenager remained frozen for a few seconds and all the while, Yami wondered if the boy spoke English at all. Then the boy inched towards him giving him a wary yet curious look.

"Was it…something I said?" Yami blinked uncertainly. The teen came within ten feet of him and stopped and looked at him with a strange look.

"So, _you're_ the one I've been smelling…" he said in wonder. He took another whiff of the air.

"Um…what?" Yami was starting to feel uncomfortable and it partially had to do with the fact that this boy could smell him from far away. Now that the teen was closer, certain features on him became more apparent. His two canine teeth protruded slightly out from his mouth like fangs. The boy's nails were curved and sharp like claws, and his face was pale. What made Yami mostly nervous however was that the teen's eyes were a bright red color.

"You don't smell right…" he sniffed the air again and gave Yami an incredulous look. "You smell human but…you smell like one of _us_ too…"

"Wh-what?" Yami said feeling more and more confused. All he asked was where he was and now he's getting this. "What do you mean?"

The teen looked at him strangely again for a minute and then smirked. He brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled so loud that the sound echoed off of faraway buildings. The sound pierced Yami's eardrums in a way that he didn't think was possible and he had to cover them with his hands until the teen had stopped whistling.

When he was sure that the boy was done, Yami slowly lowered his hands. "What was _that_ for?"

His answer came right away. Around ten people came out from buildings and around corners, as if they were just lurking there out of sight, waiting for some sort of call. They all ambled towards him and Yami backed against the wall of a building as they all surrounded him. They all looked like people made up of men and women, but they all had the same fangs and red eyes that the teen had.

"What's going on?" Yami said trying to sound intimidating, but inside he was freaking out a little. These people seemed hostile but hesitated on attacking him for some reason.

One man with blonde spikey hair stepped forward with a woman with brown wavy hair and a lot of makeup. They both seemed to be in charge of the little group yet everyone was looking at Yami with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity.

"There hasn't been a human in this city for a while," the woman said. "But you aren't fully human…are you?"

"Of course I am!" Yami blurted out. He wished he hadn't said anything because the whole group laughed in unison. "What else would I be?"

The man with the blonde spikey hair chuckled and everyone grew quiet. "What, have you been living under a rock for the past year?" He spread his arms wide as if including the whole group. "Vampires? Duh…"

"V-vampires?" Yami stuttered as the group laughed again. How was this possible? What happened here while he was gone? "I am _not_ one of you."

The woman strode forward and came right up to him. "Well let's see, you've sort of got the eyes...you have the teeth although they're smaller than what a full vampire would have…and the smell you give off… yeah you've defiantly got the blood…but not as much. I guess you're a half vampire?"

"Half vampire?" Yami repeated it, trying to get the name in his head. "I don't understand…"

His confusion was ignored however when the woman looked back to the man. "What should we do with him?"

"Hmm…well we can't take him back to Vlad, and I'm guessing half vampires probably aren't as powerful as us…so I say we kill him. Maybe the human half of him can still feed us."

"Then I get first dibs!" the woman said, then suddenly, quicker and stronger than Yami would have imagined, she lashed out with one hand and pinned him against the wall that he was standing in front of. Her grip was so strong that Yami found that he couldn't move from that spot.

"Wait! You can't do this!" Yami desperately searched his mind for a way to get out of the situation but he was drawing up a blank. Was he really sent back to this time just to die again?

"Oh, I think that you'll find that I can," she said. The woman opened her mouth and saw that her fangs grew about an inch since a minute ago, and that her eyes had slits for pupils and the red glow became more pronounced. "Goodbye half-breed."

Before she could land her fangs on Yami, a large ear piercing sound permeated the air like a bang. Yami flinched and all of the vampires around him jumped and were looking around in a frenzy. The woman that held Yami to the wall fell over in dead weight, and it wasn't until Yami saw the sizzling bullet hole in her chest did he realize that she was just shot.

Once the other vampires realized this, they all started looking around in a frantic rage, to find out who shot the bullet.

"Who was that?"

"Can you see 'em?"

"I don't know where that came from!"

"Keep an eye out! They're still out there somewhere!" the leader shouted. The pack calmed down slightly but the fact that one of their own was killed right in front of them sent a shiver of unease through the crowd. Yami didn't want to make any sudden moves so he stayed right where he was.

Then, out from behind the building next to the one they were at, a figure emerged and Yami's breath caught in his throat.

"Yugi?!"

Yugi didn't give any indication that he heard his name or that he saw Yami at all. He looked the same as when Yami last saw him and although it didn't seem like a long time, Yami felt a surge of nostalgia. Yugi stared at all of the vampires with a look of pure loathing. He held a pistol that was pointed at the leader, who stood there, frozen.

"Yugi, what are you doing?" Yami yelled. "Get out of here!"

Again, Yugi gave no sign that he heard him, yet the leader smirked rather nervously.

"What's a human like you doing running around with a gun like that?" he said chuckling, although it sounded forced. "Maybe you should drop that and run home to mommy."

"Maybe you should drop dead," Yugi said coldly. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger and shot the leader in the head. The man crumpled to the ground, the bullet wound sizzling much like the woman's did before him.

Immediately, the pack was provoked into a frenzy. They charged at Yugi at once and Yami wanted nothing more to run over and help. However, Yugi's next action made him freeze again. Within the span of two seconds, Yugi put away his gun and brought out a knife. Once the pack was on top of him, he started to slash the knife around in a way that Yami had never seen before. He swung it around so fast that it was almost a blur. Vampires all around him were getting slashed or stabbed. Their wounds sizzled much like the gunshots did, and if they weren't killed on impact, the wound itself seemed to kill them somewhat slowly. Either way, if they were touched by the knife's blade, they died. Two vampires realized what was happening before they got close (one of them being the teenager that stopped Yami in the first place) and started to run away. Once Yugi realized this, he aimed and threw the knife at the teen vampire right in the back. The knife hit him squarely in spine and he fell immediately.

The remaining vampire stopped, realized that Yugi didn't have the knife anymore and turned around to fight him. That seemed to be a mistake. Yugi, still moving faster than Yami would have believed, ran up to him, maneuvered around the vampire's quick punches, and in one swift move, pulled his knife out of the other vampire and sliced the one attacking him.

Yami looked on in awe and in fear as the last vampire lay dead. What in the name of Ra happened while he was in the afterlife? Has it really only been a year? How did Yugi become the way he is now?

Then Yugi was next to him before Yami could fully register what he was thinking, with the gun pointed right at his face. Yami's fear started to paramount. What was Yugi doing? Was he really going to shoot him because he looked like a vampire? With the way Yugi was looking at him, Yami expected him to shoot any second.

Yet the gun didn't go off. Yugi just stared at him with a strange look on his face. Yami figured he had nothing to lose by trying to speak to him.

"Y-yugi!" he said trying not to sound too afraid. "What…what are you doing?"

Yugi continued to give him a suspicious look for another minute before saying anything. "Who _are_ you?" he said.

Yami blinked. "Wh-it's me! Yami!"

Yugi's face showed no sort of recognition, and he shook his head slightly. "Sorry but I don't know you. How do you know me?"

Yami started to feel worried for more than one reason. "H-how don't you know _me_? We shared your body for years! We saved the world and then you sent me back to the afterlife! Remember?"

Yugi looked at him with a raised eyebrow and pulled the gun closer to Yami's face. "You're crazy. That doesn't even make sense."

"Alright, alright…" Yami said hurriedly before he ended up with a bullet in his skull. He decided to take on a different approach. "What about our friends? Where are Joey and Tristan?"

At the sound of their friend's names Yugi's eyes widened. "…How do you know them?"

Yami decided to keep going. "What about your Grandpa? And Tea? Are they back at the Game shop?"

Yugi's eyes widened some more if that was possible and he took a couple of steps back, yet keeping the gun trained on Yami's face. "W-what did you say?"

Yami didn't pay too close attention to his reaction and decided to continue listing their friend's names since that was the only way he could get a response from his partner. "What about Duke or Serenity? How about Mai or Bakura? Does Kaiba still work with Mokuba at-"

"Stop." Yugi said sternly. He lowered his gun but did not lower his guard. He looked at Yami now with a pained expression on his face. "Just tell me who you are. You're obviously a vampire but…"

"I told you who I am," Yami said. He still didn't feel safe to move from his spot so he stayed still against the wall yet he felt bold enough now to start asking Yugi more questions. "But who are _you_ …? You're not the same as when I left Yugi…"

He didn't mean for it to come out so bluntly but Yami couldn't keep it in any longer. Yugi seemed to have changed into a completely different person and it unnerved him. Not only that but why didn't he remember him? Is this really Yugi at all?

But Yami's last question was answered when Yugi looked at him in the eyes and the ex-pharaoh could tell that it was truly Yugi. There was just something about his gaze that couldn't be replicated or faked. While Yugi's eyes had more of a ferocity than they once did, it was his eyes and Yami needed no more validation than that. But that still brought up the question as to why Yugi didn't remember him? There were still so many questions that Yami's head buzzed with them.

"A lot happened in the past year," Yugi sighed. Yami felt relieved when Yugi put his pistol in the holster on his waist but didn't try to make any sudden moves. He saw how fast Yugi moved before and had no desire to die like those other people.

"Like what?" Yami couldn't help but ask loudly. "Why are there vampires all over the place? What do they want? What _happened_ to everyone?"

"How do you not know what's going on?" Yugi looked at him with a questioning gaze. "This isn't just happening here…vampires took over the world. Seventy-five percent of the population were turned."

The fact took Yami's breath away but he was determined to have his questions answered…. preferably while he was in one piece. "I told you, I was…well I was dead…in a way."

"Then how are you here?"

"I don't know… I just… woke up here," Yami said. However, now that he thought about it, the reason why he came back was apparent. The world was in dire peril again. But what Yami didn't get was why he came back as a human-vampire hybrid.

There was silence between the two of them for a couple of minutes as Yugi gave Yami the look of death. Then he spoke up.

"Tell me something only I would know." Yugi said simply. "If you do, I'll believe you."

Yami didn't have to think for very long. All he had to do was start from the beginning.

"When you were younger, your Grandpa gave you a small box that contained pieces of a puzzle. You used to take it to school every day to try and put the pieces together. That was back before you were friends with Joey and Tristan and they bullied you a lot. And then they took a piece of the puzzle-"

"Stop."

Yami obliged even though he hadn't gotten to the part that he thought counted. However, he seemed to have said enough. Yugi looked at him with a look of new found wonder.

"That actually happened?" he said shaking his head slightly. "I thought that was just a bad dream…"

"Yugi something happened to your memory… Can you remember anything before everything that happened with the vampires?"

Yugi then looked angry again. "I am _not_ having this conversation with you… I don't even know you."

Yami felt let down at that. No matter how much he could convince Yugi that he was a friend, he still didn't trust him. What exactly happened to him?

Yugi sighed. "Look, I have a way to figure out if you're who you say you are."

Yami's interest doubled. "What is it?"

Looking like this decision was against his better judgement, Yugi said, "I'll take you to see my friends."

* * *

Hey guys, RxR and let me know what you think and stuff. If you have any ideas, I'm all up for suggestions too! Thanks!

Yugisrose


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The streets of Domino City did not look any better as Yami and Yugi walked down its abandoned streets. In fact, they only seemed to get worse. As they walked, Yami caught glimpses of human corpses inside buildings. Cars that looked like they hadn't moved months had skeletons in them. Unnerved, Yami chose to look anywhere else for a distraction. Yugi wasn't saying much so he decided to try and start a conversation.

"Was this the work of the vampires?" he asked. Yugi gave him a sideways glare.

"Obviously."

Yami was a little taken aback by his cold tone but decided to ignore it and ask his next question. "So…you said it's like this all over the world?" Yugi nodded.

"Yeah… It's worse here than a lot of other places but it's basically the same. The remaining humans that survived built shelters to survive in."

"Is that where we're headed now?" Yami asked. It seemed like that would be the case but Yugi shook his head.

"Like I said, the vampire infestation is pretty bad here. There aren't many humans left in the city anymore. Where we're going, it's just me, Joey and Tristan."

"Wait, then what happened to everyone else?"

A dark look came over Yugi's face. "Some of them moved to a different city where the infestation isn't so bad."

"Just _some_?"

Yugi didn't answer and Yami felt like a lead brick fell into his stomach. Is it possible that some of their friends were dead? He didn't want to think about it so he tried to find something else to talk about.

"So, if everyone left the city, why are you three still here? Why didn't you flee the city with everyone else?" Yami asked.

"Just some unfinished business. We're turning left here…" Yugi said. Yami followed him onto a more suburban looking street lined with large houses. It looked like some sort of housing development but all of the houses that would have been very expensive now lie in ruins or vandalized. Yami tried not to pay attention to possible corpses lying in the front lawns.

"What unfinished business?" Yami asked. He couldn't think of any reason why Yugi, Joey and Tristan would stay behind in a vampire infested city and was genuinely curious.

"Look, you're a half vampire too, right?" Yugi said without breaking stride. "If that's the case then you'll figure it out. Vampires always seem to have a way, unfortunately."

"Wait…" Yami said. Something that Yugi said seemed off…he said, 'too' which would mean that he knew another half vampire. But the way he said it almost sounded like it just slipped out by accident. He looked at Yugi and thought back to when he was fighting the other vampires. Yugi fought and killed them without mercy and his strength seemed unnatural. Looking at him now, Yami thought he could see a glint of red underneath his regularly colored eyes. Yami stopped in his tracks and when Yugi realized this, he did too, giving him a questioning look. "You're one too…a half vampire."

Yugi's eyes grew wide at the accusation so Yami continued.

"A year ago, you didn't even participate in gym class. Now you're single handedly fighting of vampires twice your size. Don't try and deny it, Yugi."

Yugi's expression became solemn and he looked away. "Fine, I won't."

Yugi's response caught Yami off guard and he didn't say anything at first. Things were starting to make sense a little bit for Yami. This could be the real reason why _he_ was a half vampire too. Yami and Yugi shared more than just a destiny. They shared a soul and a body. Everything that changed with Yugi, changed with Yami and that included the clothes that they wore. Was it possible that Yami came back as a half vampire because Yugi was one as well? Yami knew that he wasn't going to get a clear answer on that but it was probably true.

"How…. how did….?" Yami asked not knowing how to phrase the question. He wanted to ask Yugi how he became a half vampire and how it was possible, but he found it awkward to ask, especially seeing as how Yugi didn't remember him at all. Yugi seemed to get what he was trying to ask however and put a hand up to silence him.

"Look, that doesn't matter." He said. Yami was about to interject saying that it did, but Yugi kept talking. "Now look…if we're going to keep going, you need to promise me that you won't mention this to Joey or Tristan."

Yami blinked. "You've been keeping this a secret? Why?"

Yugi started to look frustrated. "We've been hunting and running from vampires this entire year and you want me to just _tell_ them that I'm partially a vampire?"

"They're friends, I'm sure they will understand!" Yami said starting to get frustrated himself. "What do you really have to be afraid of?"

"Wait until you see Tristan with a sniper rifle." Yugi said. He crossed his arms and looked at Yami expectantly. "So, do you agree never to mention it?"

Yami sighed feeling as though he didn't have a choice in the matter. Yugi wasn't going to let him advance until he agreed. "Yes… I promise."

Yugi nodded appearing satisfied and they continued their walk. Yami decided to leave Yugi alone for now when it came to questions and for the next thirty minutes, they walked in silence. The suburban neighborhood was behind them and soon the two of them came upon a gate on the side of the road that read, "City Dump." Yami hesitated once Yugi walked through the gate, not because he had anything against dumps really…but the smell was horrible. Yugi looked back at him with a questioning gaze.

"Do we have to go through here?" Yami asked covering his nose.

Yugi nodded. "Vampires have elevated senses so they usually don't come around here."

"I can't imagine why…" Yami couldn't help but say in distaste. Even with his half vampiric senses, it was almost too much. He couldn't understand how Yugi dealt with it.

"You'll get used to it. Don't worry, we won't actually be going inside the landfill or anything."

Yami had no choice but to follow Yugi deeper into the land of horrible smells. Yami tried not to think about it as they walked deeper into the dump. After ten more minutes of walking, they came upon a small white building that looked like it once was an office building for the place. It was the size of a small house and was in need of repair but looked sturdy enough. Yugi stopped at the front door and knocked three times. There was a shuffling from inside and the door opened.

"Yuge!" Joey stepped out and looked at Yugi with an expression of relief. "You've been gone for a couple of days man…where…?"

Joey's voice drifted off as he saw Yami and his jaw dropped. The ex-pharaoh didn't know what to do so he waved uncertainty.

"H-hey Joey…"

Joey just stood there with his mouth open for a few seconds before saying anything. "Y-you…. but how?!"

"I don't know Joey…I just found myself here and-oof!" Yami couldn't finish his sentence because before he realized that it was coming, Joey gave him a rib cracking hug. "Joey…um…crushing…"

"Oh, sorry." Joey let Yami go so that he could breath and continued to look at Yami in awe. "Good to see ya man! But how are you back? I thought you went to the afterlife to stay there…"

"I'm not sure how I came back but I can only imagine that it's because of what's going on here…"

Joey's expression became grave. "Yeah… Come on inside…we have a lot to catch up on."

"Wait," Yugi said stopping anyone from advancing. He looked at Joey. "So, you're saying that you really _do_ know him?"

Joey shared a quick glance with Yami before looking at Yugi in confusion. "Of course…. why wouldn't I?"

For a minute Yugi didn't say anything but Yami could tell he felt frustrated and confused.

"Yugi…is everything alright?" Joey asked with a raised eyebrow. "You _are_ talking about…Yami…right?"

Yugi shook his head as if to clear it. "Never mind. Forget I said anything…I'm going to scout the perimeter."

"But wait, you just got back!" Joey said but Yugi already was walking away, back from where they came from. Joey sighed in defeat and ushered Yami inside. Yami hesitated, with a glance at Yugi's retreating form and then obliged.

Yami was able to get a good look around what looked like was an office before Joey shut the door and they were submerged in darkness. However, although Yami knew that it was very dark inside the building, he could see just fine. He guessed it was the heightened senses of a vampire that Yugi mentioned before.

"Hold on, I'll turn on a light." Joey said and he turned on a lamp that blinded Yami before his eyes got used to the light. The room had a desk in the corner full of various equipment, a couch on the right side of the room and in the back looked like the bathroom and a small kitchen. There were boxes all over the place full of what looked like ammunition. All of the windows were covered by black curtains. Joey saw him looking and sighed. "It's so we don't attract attention to ourselves at night. These curtains worked so far…we've never been attacked in here…"

Joey gestured for Yami to sit on the couch after he sat down himself. Yami obliged and Joey looked at him seriously. "So, you have no idea how you got here?"

Yami shook his head. "No, and I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do here…This is unlike anything we've faced before."

"Either way, it's good to have you back." Joey smiled. "Maybe now we can stand a fighting chance."

Yami didn't say anything. What was he supposed to do here? It was obvious that Yugi, Joey and Tristan already had a lot of experience fighting vampires, so what did they need him for?

"So, did you and Yugi get into a fight already or something? What's going on?" Joey said after a few seconds of silence.

Yami sighed. "I'm not sure exactly but… he says that he doesn't remember me."

"Say _what_?" Joey said incredulously. "How come?!"

"I don't know, but when he first saw me… he pointed his gun at me…"

"What?!" Joey stood up as if he was ready to run out to Yugi now and demand an explanation for his actions. Yami stood too and held his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

"But it's okay now… He didn't shoot me…"

"But that doesn't make any sense! Why would he forget you? He knows all of us…"

"I…I don't know but when I asked him about specific times in the past, he couldn't remember most of what happened then either. Something must have happened to make him lose his memory… you can't blame him though, alright?"

Joey took a deep breath then sat back down on the couch looking sad. "Maybe it's because of the accident…"

"What accident?" Yami asked sitting back down now that he was sure Joey wasn't going to rush out the door any time soon. "Joey, what _happened_ in the past year?"

Joey shook his head almost disbelievingly. "Everything started with that accident. You mean Yugi didn't tell you? He didn't say anything about… _anything_?"

"No, he… didn't seem to trust me all that much." Yami said feeling a little bitter. He remembered all the questions that he asked that Yugi didn't want to answer and hoped that Joey would be able to answer them. Joey nodded sadly.

"Well then I'll tell you what I can. It all started about a week after we came back from Egypt."

Yami nodded. One week after they sent him after the afterlife. That wasn't much of a grace period at all. Joey continued.

"Everything was going back to normal… we all went back to school, Yugi asked Tea out… she said yes of course so they were a happy couple. Things were looking up for everyone." Joey paused as if gathering himself for a collection of heavy thoughts. "Then one day Yugi and Tea went back to the game shop to grab something. We were going to meet them at the arcade. They were only supposed to be a few minutes late. But Tristan and I waited for an hour before we decided to leave the arcade and go back to look for them. When we got to the game shop…"

Yami felt a bubble of apprehension form in the pit of his stomach. " _What_?"

"The game shop had collapsed to the ground," Joey said looking at the floor. "It looked like it had exploded from the inside. The police weren't called yet apparently but Tristan and I… we went through the rubble to find them. We found Grandpa first… he was dead."

Yami stared at him in shock. Grandpa? Dead? That can't be…! "N-no…"

Joey continued. "After we realized that we couldn't help Grandpa… we tried to find anyone else… well we found Tea. But we… we couldn't help her either…"

Tears formed at the corner of Joey's eyes but Yami barely noticed. Tea too?! This couldn't be…! Yami could feel the sorrow creeping up into his throat yet his fists were shaking in rage. "H-how…?"

Joey shook his head. "We don't know what happened for sure but we're positive it had something to do with the vampires. About three weeks after that a lot of strange disappearances started happening and then the next thing everyone knew, vampire attacks happened every day. Not to mention…"

Joey trailed off and Yami looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. Only when Joey realized that Yami was staring at him did he continue.

"I dunno man but… Gramps and Tea… their bodies were… _sucked dry_."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean there was no more blood left in their bodies. They were like… human raisins."

Yami tried not to think of it and tried to steer the conversation away from the dead before he lost it completely. "W-what about Yugi? He made it out obviously…"

"Well yeah, but we found him in the wreckage. He was covered in his own blood and hurt bad. He couldn't even make it to either of the funerals because he was unconscious for two weeks. I can only guess that he hit his head or something. So really, the fact that he has some memory issues really shouldn't surprise me all that much… It's just weird that he only forgot _you_."

"Yeah…" Yami nodded thoughtfully. That could be a reason for Yugi's amnesia but something still nagged in the back of Yami's head. Like Joey said, it still seemed strange.

"Yugi was never the same after that," Joey continued. "I mean, I can't blame him for feeling sad or anything. A week after he lost you, he then lost his home, his Grandfather and his girlfriend. But…" Joey stopped and looked like he wanted to continue but didn't know how best to describe what he felt. "He just seemed like a different person. He never once talked about the accident and every time I bring it up, he changes the subject. He's gone for hours… sometimes days at a time and I have no idea where he's gone. He's just… not the same anymore, ya know?"

Yami nodded in understanding. He got the feeling that this was the first time Joey was able to speak openly about how he was feeling and was glad to be there for him. Joey continued.

"Although he got really good at using that gun," he said. "Yugi could shoot a fly out of the air if he wanted. You should have seen it last week… he killed…"

Joey's voice trailed off at the word, 'killed' and then faded away as if he realized something. He shook his head in frustration.

"Man, things are so messed up now, ya know?" Joey combed his hair with his fingers. "I think Yugi's out for revenge or something…"

Yami blinked. "Revenge? Yugi never wanted revenge!"

Joey gave him a knowing look. "The old Yugi would never want revenge but now… I dunno, but I'm thinking that he actually saw who killed Grandpa and Tea. I don't know if it was one vampire or a whole pack but I don't think he plans on resting until he's either killed whoever did it, or until he's killed them all. I can't ask him though… he shuts me out every time I try."

Silence reigned for a few moments as Yami tried to absorb the information that Joey gave him. If Yugi really got attacked by vampires a year ago, then maybe that could partially explain as to why he was turned into a half vampire. Maybe once Yugi started to trust him, he could ask.

"S-so…how _do_ you kill a vampire?" Yami asked hesitantly. The question brought Joey out of his thoughts, which was good considering he looked like he wanted to cry.

"Oh… with silver."

"Really? How?"

Joey shrugged. "Don't ask me. All I know is if a vampire touches silver, their skin starts to decay and burn. If it gets into their blood, it can poison them to death. So, that's why we have a whole supply of silver bullets."

"Silver bullets?" Yami said surprisingly. Thinking back, that was probably exactly what Yugi was using to shoot the vampires from before. "Where do you get them?" He couldn't imagine that a precious metal was easy to come by.

"Some scientist made a factory of them a few miles down the road," Joey said, his spirits lifting a little at the change of subject. "That's where Tristan is now."

"Tristan's there? Why?"

"Well we need to keep the place protected and it was his turn to freshen up the wardings around the place. He's usually never gone more than a couple of days."

"Wardings?"

Joey gave him a strained smile. "I'll teach that to ya later."

Yami nodded, thinking about what a silver bullet would do to a half vampire. He decided that he never wanted to know. However, that brought up something that Yami hesitated in talking about, partially because he promised Yugi that he wouldn't mention it.

"Look Joey… earlier today I ran into a pack of vampires and they… well they called me a half vampire."

Joey gave him a shocked look. "Say what?"

Yami told him what everyone kept saying about him and at first, he was worried that Joey would pull a gun on him, much like Yugi did. However, once he was finished, Joey sat back on the couch looking thoughtful.

"That's weird. I've never heard of that before," he said.

Yami didn't say anything else and he refrained from mentioning anything about Yugi's condition either, partially honoring the promise he made. After a few seconds, Joey looked at him.

"Do you wanna test it?"

Yami looked at him warily. "How?"

"With this," Joey reached into his pocket and pulled out a bullet. When Yami looked at it questioningly, Joey held it out to him. "It's silver."

Yami inched away from it, remembering what it did to the other vampires. "I don't think-"

"Just hold it," Joey said. "It won't kill you unless you hold it too long. If you start to feel a reaction, just give it back to me."

Yami stared at it for a second before obliging and taking it from Joey's palm. At first, it felt like a regular piece of metal and it was cool to the touch. But after a few seconds, it started to warm up and Yami could feel his skin start to tingle on his hand. Immediately, he dropped it and it fell onto the couch.

"Nope…" he said. He looked at his hand and where the bullet sat, his skin looked red from where it touched. "Well I guess not even half vampires are safe…"

"Yeah but if you were a full vampire that probably would have burned you a lot faster." Joey said picking up the bullet and putting it back into his pocket. "Sometimes when we shoot them with these, the effect is instant."

"This…doesn't bother you?" Yami asked with a raised eyebrow. He expected a more incredulous reaction from the blonde but he seemed to be taking it in stride. "I mean… you and Yugi and Tristan… you three have been _hunting_ vampires…"

Joey shrugged. "Well you're not fully a vampire. Plus, if you were, you would have lost all of your humanity. You still seem to have yours."

"Humanity?"

"Yeah. One of the main reasons that we're fighting these things is because they lost a big part of who they were. They start killing for no reason, and thirst for blood. Some don't have any emotion and others don't remember what their life was like before being turned so they end up attacking friends and family."

"Oh…"

"Plus," Joey smirked. "If you really wanted to kill me, you had plenty of chances to do that. So…I think that you're pretty safe."

"…Thanks Joey…" Yami felt a little relieved. Now he could tell Yugi that Joey's reaction to a half vampire wasn't nearly as bad as he imagined that it would be. Maybe Yugi could tell Joey himself when he was ready.

Suddenly, three knocks on the front door closed their conversation. Joey immediately got up, looked through the keyhole and opened the door. Yugi strode in looking worried.

"Joey, there's a large pack heading towards the factory…"

"The silver factory? Where Tristan is?"

"Yes!"

Joey cursed to himself and started going through boxes of ammunition. Yami stood and asked, "What's going on?"

"There are vampires heading towards the factory that Tristan's at. Hopefully we can get there and defend the place before they get there. Plus, we should warn Tristan in case he planned on leaving anytime soon," Joey said grabbing a small pistol from inside a box and looking at Yami. "You coming?"

"Yes," Yami said immediately. There was no way he was going to miss out on a chance to help his friends. Joey nodded and handed him the pistol.

"Ever shoot one of these before?"

"Um… no…"

"Good then Yugi can teach you," Joey said giving Yami a meaningful look before looking at Yugi. "Right?"

"There really isn't time-" Yugi began but Joey cut him off.

"There's plenty of time on the way. It's a long walk." Joey then started to go through boxes again leaving Yugi looking very displeased.

Five minutes later, the three of them were walking out of the dump and were walking through back roads to get to the silver factory. Joey was keeping an eye out for rouge vampires while Yugi showed Yami how to shoot the gun. They had given him his own set of silver bullets that Joey pre-loaded into the gun, seeing as how touching the bullets wasn't good for Yami.

"…Then you hit the safety switch and then you can shoot," Yugi was saying. "Did you get all of that?"

"I think so…" Yami said lowering the gun and looked at Yugi who seemed to be glad that the lesson was over. "How did _you_ learn to do it?"

Yugi sighed. "We've had plenty of practice."

"You can say that again," Joey said. "You'll never appreciate how many people lived in this city until most of them turn into vampires and it's your job to get rid of them. Remember that mob that came out of the school Yugi? I don't think we could shoot fast enough."

"Yeah, it's a good thing Tristan was there," Yugi said. Joey chuckled and looked at Yami.

"Tristan likes his sniper rifles and machine guns. Really helped us out then. He was hiding out in the bushes and they didn't even realize that he was there until it was too late."

"But neither of you enjoy it, right?" Yami had to ask. Joey's smirk faded and was replaced with a depressed look while Yugi remained impassive.

"Of course not!" Joey said. "I would give anything for everything to go back to normal… and to have everyone back."

There was a moment of silence between the three of them before Joey spoke up again, this time, looking at Yugi with a meaningful look.

"I miss our old tournaments…even the bad ones. Remember that time when Marik tried to make us duel and we both ended up in the ocean?"

Yugi gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"Ya know, at the pier? During Kaiba's Battle City tournament? Man I miss the old days… That was a cakewalk compared to this…"

Yugi looked more confused than ever, and Joey started to look angry.

"You mean you don't remember that?" Joey stopped walking and so did Yugi and Yami. "Yugi, if you had this many gaps in your memory, why didn't you say anything before?"

Yugi still looked confused. "Gaps? What are you talking about Joey?"

"You don't remember Yami, you don't remember Battle City… I'm beginning to wonder how you know me or Tristan at all if you can't remember any of our duels…"

"Joey, if I had known if I was forgetting things I would have said something," Yugi said and then looked at Yami with an accusatory gaze. "I guess I didn't realize it until _he_ showed up."

"Well," Joey sighed and looked at Yami as well. "Hopefully you can jog his memory or something…"

"Why?" Yugi asked now looking frustrated himself. "Is it really _that_ important? Is it going to help us in getting rid of the vampires?"

Joey shared a quick glance with Yami. "Yeah, I'd say it would."

Yugi didn't say anything as they continued to walk, and the three of them walked in silence for the next twenty minutes. Yami didn't voice his thoughts but he was growing more concerned that this way of life had changed Yugi for good. Joey still seemed the same but he still had all of his memories. Not being able to remember who you were was a dangerous thing, especially in times like these. Yami knew all too well what that was like. With a pang, Yami realized that he was going to have to do what Yugi did for him over a year ago. As the factory came into view, Yami hoped that he could help Yugi regain his memories before it was too late.

* * *

RxR!

Yugisrose


	3. Chapter 3

A large building came into view through the webbing of buildings and randomly planted trees. It was an abandoned looking factory coated in glossy black paint with two white smoke stacks poking out from the back. The front of the building looked like an entrance to an old insane asylum. Fifteen or so stone steps led up to a pair of large doors with oversized locks hanging from the handles. Windows were broken, trash littered the sides, vines grew along the pavement and the entire area seemed eerily calm.

As they walked closer, Yami noticed strange symbols that looked like they were spray painted with red paint on the walls and on whatever window that wasn't completely shattered. He didn't know what they meant but when he pointed them out to Joey, the teen smirked.

"They're to keep the vampires away. I found them in a book at the library so we figured that it wouldn't hurt to check them out. Turns out, they work! Vampires can't get inside unless they ruin the symbols. Luckily they haven't figured it out how to do that yet."

"Is this part of the warding you mentioned?"

"Yep," Joey nodded.

"Joey," Yugi said. "Why don't you go inside and get Tristan? We'll wait out here in case vampires show up."

"Alright, give us a shout if you need anything."

Quickly, Joey ran up to the front of the building, jumped through an open window and disappeared inside. Yugi motioned for Yami to follow him. He had them hide in a small bush as Yugi kept an eye out for enemies.

"Have you ever been inside before?" Yami asked. Yugi kept his eyes out around them.

"Once, before Joey put up all of the wardings."

"Would the wards affect us?"

Yugi nodded gravely. "There are more protections guarding that factory than it looks. Joey did a good job… I made the mistake of getting too close once and I could never admit to them why I couldn't go out to scout that day… So don't go near it. It'll make you sick."

Yami looked at him thinking about the conversation that he and Joey had earlier. "Yugi, I told Joey that I was half vampire…"

Yugi looked at him quickly, his eyes full of alarm. "You didn't…?"

"No I didn't say anything about you because I wanted you to tell them when you're ready. Just know… that Joey was okay with it… and I think Tristan would be too."

Yugi looked thoughtful for a second before shifting his gaze back to the surrounding area. A few minutes passed where they stood in silence waiting for any sort of activity before Yugi spoke up again.

"Yami…" he said sounding hesitant. "Is all of what you said earlier true?"

Yami looked at him curiously. "Which part?"

"What you said about us saving the world and you getting sent to an afterlife?"

"Yes," Yami said without hesitation. "It is."

Without looking at him, Yugi said, "Did it have something to do with Egypt?"

Yami looked at him feeling surprised. "Y-yes…Do you remember that?"

"I don't know…" he said hesitantly. "I had this dream once-"

Then Yugi cut himself off and quietly pointed to a portion of trees about one hundred yards out. A group of people were filing out, walking towards the factory with a purpose. As they came closer, Yami could tell that they were vampires. There must have been thirty of them, all of them looking to be of different ages and sizes. They all walked silently until they got to the concrete perimeter of the factory and then stopped, looking at the factory with longing gazes.

Yami couldn't help but feel annoyed by the fact that the vampires cut off their conversation. It really felt like they were getting somewhere with Yugi and there's a possibility that a moment like that may not come again. However, due to the urgent nature at hand, Yami tried to push these feelings aside for now to focus on the task set out for them.

Yugi motioned for him to be quiet as the group started to converse amongst themselves.

"So how do we get in?" a girl asked. "Should we wait for him?"

"We're going to have to," another chimed in. "Look at those sigils."

"I don't even want to get closer. Smell that?"

"Yep," a burly man decorated with leather said. "The place is heavily armed alright. Are we even sure that Vlad can get through?"

"He has to…" the girl said again. "This is important. Do you know how much silver is in this place? We could be wiped out…"

"Now now, that's just a rumor-"

"But can we take that chance? I mean, this could be a suicide mission."

"If we can't trust Vlad, who can we trust? He _created_ us…"

There was a murmur of agreement that rippled through the crowd. Most of the vampires were looking at the factory with apprehensive looks and Yami could only imagine what they felt was inside the building.

The muscular vampire sighed and pulled out his own pistol. "The ones who we _can't_ trust… are those two in the bushes." He pointed the gun right at them and the pack shifted nervously. Yami froze. "Come on out you two, or I'll send everyone over myself."

Yugi nodded slightly, and slowly walked out from behind the bush with his hands held out pacifyingly. Yami had no choice but to follow him. The crowd muttered even more nervously than before once they were in plain sight.

"Who are you?" the vampire with the gun asked. However, as he said that, nearly half of the other vampires drew out their own weapons that varied from guns, to knives, swords and the like. Yami immediately felt nervous.

"Hey, I think I recognize one of them!" one of the younger vampires came forward looking at the both of them with a confused expression. "I'm not sure which one it is… they both look the same to me. But one of them killed my brother! I saw it happen!"

"And…why does that bother you?" someone said in the back of their group. The young vampire looked angry.

"Because _I_ wanted to be the one to kill him! Instead…one of these hunters did!"

The vampire with the gun looked more agitated by the second. "You'll meet the same fate as your brother if you don't _shut up_!"

It got deathly silent as the vampire in front focused his attention back on them. "So tell me…what are you two supposed to be? You're not fully human…"

"Where's your leader?" Yugi asked, ignoring the question completely. The vampire laughed.

"He's on his way, believe me. We're going to destroy this factory and kill all those involved with it!"

"You can try," Yami said sounding more confident than he felt. "But it won't do you any good. You can't get near this place."

"That's where you're wrong." A sly voice came out from nowhere. Everyone looked around in confusion and some of the vampires started yelling, "He's here!"

Yami looked around in confusion and saw out of the corner of his eye, that Yugi looked worried. Then, out from the shadows of the bushes to their right, a figure started to form. It was wispy, like smoke, then after a few seconds it formed into a more solid mass. Then, a person stepped out from the shadows, as if he was standing in them, out of sight all along. His black cape swished in the nonexistent wind and his sharp red eyes were the most prominent thing about him. His black hair was greased back with only a few locks that came over his face and his skin almost glowed white. As he surveyed the crowed, the group of vampires turned to him and bowed.

"At ease my children," the man said holding up a gloved hand. He used his other hand to wipe any excess shadow that was still attached to his black suit. "I told you I would be here."

"Vlad… thank you for being here," the older vampire in front said, not lifting his head to meet the man's eyes. The man named Vlad nodded, looking almost bored and then turned to look at the factory.

"It's not as big as I would have expected…" he said, his handsome voice carrying throughout the courtyard. "However, it is well protected…yes, there are many shields blocking this place. You were right in calling me here."

Yami looked at the man in awe. Something about him made Yami want to hide in the bushes and hope that the man named Vlad never saw him. The man radiated with power and confidence. His regal pose reminded him of the way kings used to stand in Egypt.

" _You_!" Yugi yelled, his voice echoing off of the factory building. Yami jumped slightly, as he wasn't expecting Yugi to yell so loudly. He looked angrier than Yami had ever seen him, and he was staring at the man who had just entered, literally, from the shadows.

Vlad turned and looked at them with mild curiosity. "And who are they?"

"This is all your fault!" Yugi yelled again. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it towards Vlad.

"Woah, Yugi!" Yami said growing more concerned. Just who was this guy and why did Yugi hate him so much? It was obvious that Vlad was a vampire, but what was so different about this one? "Put the gun down…"

Yugi ignored him as he aimed the gun carefully with an insane look in his eyes. Vlad stared at him for a moment, and then started to laugh. When he was finished, he looked at Yugi with more of an interested expression than he gave the factory not a minute earlier.

"I remember you," Vlad said. "As I recall, I sucked your friend dry, didn't I? That girl's blood was so delicious-"

Vlad was cut off when Yugi fired his gun. With his heightened senses, Yami saw what happened almost as if it was in slow motion. The bullet came towards Vlad with blinding speed, but faster than even his eyes could follow, Vlad caught the bullet in his hand. He held it there for a second before tossing it on the ground, his hand steaming from underneath the glove that he was wearing.

"Why do you resort to such mortal toys?" Vlad said taking a few steps towards them. "You have the powers of a true vampire, why not use them?"

Yami looked from Vlad to Yugi trying to fit in the pieces that were right in front of him but was having a hard time thinking due to what was happening at the moment. Yugi still looked angry, but now he looked a little frightened too. Yami looked towards the factory, hoping that Joey and Tristan heard the commotion and were hatching some sort of plan. They were going to need help.

Without answering, Yugi brought out his silver knife that Yami saw him use against the other vampires earlier that day. Yami was going to try and stop him from doing anything reckless, but he didn't need to. A red aura emanated from Vlad and found its way onto Yugi's knife. Within a second, the knife was knocked out of his hand and clattered onto the ground.

"Yugi, stop!" Yami had to step in because Yugi was showing signs of running up to the man unarmed. He put a hand on his shoulder, and luckily Yugi didn't shove it away. Vlad looked at him.

" _You_ I don't remember. Are you brothers?" Vlad asked looking at Yami with a curious expression on his pale face. "Did one of my children mess up a transformation like I did?"

Yami didn't ask what he meant. His main focus was to stop any and all fighting, which could be challenging considering that Yugi was the one who wanted to do just that.

"Who _are_ you?" he asked. Vlad smirked coolly and spread his arms.

"I am the first," he said simply.

However, whatever Vlad was going to say next was drowned out by the sound of gunfire. Vampires started to drop like flies and Vlad looked around in confusion. Yami looked over to the factory and saw in one window, Tristan aiming what looked like a sniper rifle and hitting each vampire with precision. In another window, Joey was firing off with a shot gun. All of the vampires were in a panic until Vlad yelled, "Disperse my children! Retreat!"

Vlad caught a couple of bullets with his hands before disappearing in a whirl of shadowy smoke. Most of the some of the vampires started to run off. Some however pulled out guns of their own and started trying to shoot Tristan and Joey. They ducked out of the way when necessary but tried to shoot intermittently in between their shots.

"We need to help them," Yami said. There was no way he was going to sit by while Tristan and Joey were getting shot at. However, he never got the chance. In a spit second before he was going to look at Yugi to get him to help as well, he saw one of the vampires aim a gun at him. Time seemed to freeze as Yami imagined himself being shot.

"Look out!" Yugi yelled, and stronger than what he thought was possible, Yami was knocked to the ground right when the gun was fired.

Yami got up quickly as he heard Yugi scream, his fear realized: Yugi was on the ground, due to the wound that was in his shoulder. Blood quickly spread from the wound onto the cement ground. The worst part about it was the fact that he could see steam coming out from the wound due the reaction between his body and the bullet. Realization slowly seeped into Yami's head of the fact that Yugi was just shot by a silver bullet that was meant for him.

"No….no no…" Yami kneeled next to Yugi unsure of what to do. Yugi was breathing heavily, his eyes tightly shut and he seemed like he was having a hard time not screaming. Yami put a hand over the wound to try to staunch the bleeding but he knew that it wouldn't do much. If what he heard about the reaction between silver bullets and vampires were true, then it wouldn't matter how much blood he lost if the poison from the bullet killed him first. Yami looked up to see where the other vampires were but they were all killed or scattered and ran off. Looking up at the factory, he saw Tristan and Joey looking out for any other vampires. "Over here!" Yami yelled out to them and when they looked, he motioned for them to come out.

By the time they came out of the building and ran over to them, Yugi's breathing had become more ragged and he was losing more blood.

"Guys…" Yami couldn't think of what to say. Luckily Tristan and Joey knew what to do.

"Got it," Joey said, and pulled out a first aid kit. He started rummaging through it as if looking for something specific.

Tristan nodded in Yami's direction in greeting and then looked at Yugi. "Man I _told_ you Joey… I _knew_ it!"

"Yeah, I know," Joey said sounding distracted. "I never said I didn't believe you… Where _is_ that thing?!"

"Don't try and put pressure on the wound," Tristan said moving Yami's hand away from Yugi. "As long as that bullet's in there, it won't stop bleeding."

"Then what do we do?" Yami asked nervously.

"Ah-hah!" Joey said holding up what looked like a pair of tweezers. "Found it."

"Good, give it to me." Tristan said holding out his hand. Joey obliged.

Yami watched as Tristan carefully took the tweezers, and brought out a lighter. He flicked the switch on the lighter and a small flame came out and flickered there as he brought the tweezers over the flame. After a few seconds, he took it out of the fire and stuck the tweezers in the wound. Yugi immediately winced and his breathing became more pained.

"W-what are you doing?" Yami asked. Joey put a hand on his shoulder looking worried himself.

"We need to get the bullet out… otherwise, it will kill him."

Yami looked on helplessly as Tristan tried to fish around in the wound with the pair of tweezers. Why had Yugi taken that bullet for him? Yami wasn't someone who was on his most trusted list at the moment due to his memory loss, so why push the ex-pharaoh out of the way?

"Found it," Tristan said.

"Hurry Tristan," Joey said putting a hand on Yugi's uninjured shoulder. "The poison…"

"I know, I know… I've never done this before, okay? I can't rush this."

Yami knew what Joey meant though. It already was looking like the poison was taking effect. Yugi's breath was becoming agonal, and his skin had become a sickly pale color. He didn't show any pain but that was probably due to the fact that he was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Will the poison stop affecting him once you've taken the bullet out?" Yami asked. Joey didn't look at him but looked more worried.

"I don't know…" he said uncertainly. "You and Yugi are the only half vampires we've ever seen… so it's not like we have experience with this before."

"Got it!" Tristan said, pulling out what looked like a bullet from the wound, but it was hard to tell by just looks as it was covered in blood, and smoking. Tristan threw the bullet aside and grabbed a bottle of water from a pocket from his book bag. He opened the bottle and poured it over the wound until the water was all gone. The sizzling from the wound had stopped but Yugi wasn't getting any better. In fact, he looked worse. His panting was getting more and more shallow and his complexion was getting worse. His veins were easily visible underneath his skin.

"Tristan… What now?" Joey said warningly. "Cause he's not getting better."

"I don't know what else to do!" Tristan frantically looked through the first aid kit to find some sort of remedy. "There's got to be something I didn't think of!"

Yami looked at Yugi trying to think of what to do as well. He put a hand on his chest and could feel his rapid heartbeat. There had to be something he could do… anything. Yami thought back to when they shared a body and how their destinies were intertwined. Why should it be any different now? Just because they had separate bodies now didn't mean that they weren't connected, right?

Thinking that there was nothing really left to lose, Yami closed his eyes and concentrated. He focused on their connection and how Yugi needed to be healed of the poison.

Then, a spark flickered between them and it was like a fire came to life. Yami opened his eyes to see a golden aura surrounding him and Yugi. Realizing that he was doing something, he focused the energy on healing Yugi. The energy responded and their aura got even brighter than before. He held the position for a few minutes, ignoring Joey and Tristan's look of shock. When Yami could no longer keep it lit, he allowed it to fade. Feeling exhausted, Yami looked at Yugi for any signs that whatever he did, worked.

As if in response, Yugi tiredly opened his eyes and looked at Yami. "W-well…that was…. weird."

Yami sighed in relief. Whatever he did, worked. Yugi was alive.

"What in the world was that?!"

Yami looked up at Joey and Tristan, both who were still giving Yami shocked expressions.

"Um… I think I just healed the poison…" Yami said looking back at Yugi. "Do you feel any better?"

"Uh huh…" Yugi said before his eyes closed and he seemingly drifted off to sleep.

Tristan shook his head disbelievingly. "Man, you two are so weird sometimes…. But it's so awesome."

Joey chuckled looking relieved. "That was a close one. You guys need to stay away from the silver… like, forever."

"Um… so where do we go from here?" Tristan said packing up the first aid kit and looking at Yami. "You two can't go back into the factory… we have too much wardings in there. It would make you both sick. Our base is kinda far for Yugi…"

"There's that shelter we set up a couple minutes that way," Joey said pointing to their left. "We could hang out there until Yugi's back on his feet."

"Alright, lead the way."

Joey was right in saying the shelter was only a couple of minutes away, and it probably would have taken them that long except that Yugi wasn't waking up so Joey had to carry him, and Yami was feeling drained so Tristan had to help him walk. So basically, it took them an extra ten minutes to get to the shelter than it normally would have.

The shelter itself was basically a storage shed the size of a small house behind the factory. It was far away enough from the factory that the wardings from it wouldn't affect Yami or Yugi, but close enough that vampires usually didn't get too close. They got inside and there was a mattress on the floor that Joey was able to set Yugi on. Tristan had Yami sit on the other edge of the mattress, which Yami didn't complain about. He felt a little better but was still drained from healing Yugi.

Tristan patted Yami on the shoulder. "It's good to see you though… It's been… what? A year?"

Yami nodded. "So I've been told."

"Too bad you didn't come back under better circumstances though…"

"That wouldn't make sense," Joey said. He checked outside to make sure no vampires were around and then closed the door. "That never happens."

Tristan looked at Yami for a few seconds before continuing. "Joey filled me in on what you told him. So you just came back as a half vampire?"

"Yes…"

"I guess it makes sense," Joey said looking at Tristan with a meaningful look. "Now that we know for sure that Yugi's one too…"

"I _told_ you!" Tristan said. "But you wanted to deny it!"

"What, you guys knew?" Yami asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why didn't you mention it to Yugi?"

"We had our suspicions…" Joey said but then Tristan gave him a look. "Okay, Tristan suspected that Yugi was a vampire but we didn't want to say anything to him in case Yugi didn't know about it himself yet."

"What? Why?"

"Because Grandpa and Tea were killed by vampires. The whole world is in jeopardy because of these things. We didn't know how he would have felt if he realized that he had become one of them."

"Oh…" Yami thought about it and knew where they were coming from. To become the very thing that you hated had to be a hard thing to accept and a lot of people might have gone mad. But Yugi didn't somehow and he used it to survive. Yami looked at the teen sleeping on the bed. Yugi looked better than he did before but more blood had seeped onto the mattress. "He's still bleeding…"

Joey kneeled over him and looked at the wound. "Aw man… Tristan, you still have that bandaging stuff?"

"I always do," Tristan said, pulling out a zip lock bag from his knapsack full of gauze and bandaging materials. He poured the entirety of the contents on the floor. Joey looked at it.

"I don't need the whole bag dude…"

"It's easier to find what we need this way. Trust me." Tristan said as Joey got to work bandaging Yugi's wound, and Yami started feeling more responsible. He had thought he healed Yugi all of the way but it only looked like his energy worked on the poison and not the wound itself. Still, at least he was alive. As they finished the final touches on the bandaging, Yugi winced and his eyes flickered open.

"Ow…" he said.

"Hey Yuge," Joey said. "How are ya feelin?"

Yugi didn't say anything but answered by trying to sit up. He winced again, putting a hand over his injured shoulder.

"Wait… you should really rest for a bit," Yami said but Yugi shook his head.

"It's fine… besides, we should really get back to base," he said. His voice wavered and he looked dizzy. "It's going to get dark soon."

"Oh yeah," Tristan said, and he looked out the window. "I think we might be stuck here for the night then."

Yami looked up at the window and realized that it was indeed starting to get darker, which was odd seeing as how he didn't see a sunset of any sort. The world of vampires seemed to be a dull place in more ways than one.

"What's so bad about being out after dark?" Yami asked, feeling as though he already knew part of the answer. Tristan sighed.

"Well besides the fact that vampires see really well in the dark, they're a bit nocturnal. You think there was a lot out today, just wait until the sun sets. The number quadruples at night. It's best that we lay low at that time."

"But he's still out there," Yugi said through clenched teeth and he sat up fully, wincing. Yami could almost feel the frustration emanating from him. "He was right in front of me and I didn't do _anything_!"

"…What are you talking about?" Joey looked away from the window with a concerned expression on his face.

"The Alpha was there…"

"Wait, are you serious?" Tristan said looking wide eyed. Yami looked at all of them in confusion.

"The Alpha?"

"The Alpha is the leader of all of the vampires," Tristan explained. "He's also the creator of vampires and is responsible for turning most of the people in the world. It's said that the Alpha is extremely powerful but we've never seen him before… are you sure that was him?"  
Yugi nodded. Yami thought back for when the Alpha, Vlad, called himself, "the first." Now he knew what he meant but something was still nagging at him in the back of his mind. He looked at Yugi.

"If he turned most vampires into what they are, is he the one that turned you?"

Hesitantly, Yugi nodded. Yami was still going through his brain to put pieces together and now that they weren't in immediate danger, he could think clearly again.

"So does that mean… that was the vampire that killed Tea? And Grandpa?"

Yugi didn't say anything but Yami was sure that meant, "yes."

"Wait, seriously?" Joey looked at Yugi wide eyed. "Are you sure that was him?"

Yugi nodded again, not looking at anyone in the eye. Tristan went towards the door with his gun.

"If that was really him… we had a shot. Joey, we had a shot and we didn't _take_ it! Next time I see him, I'm gonna blow his head off!"

"Woah, calm down man." Joey said holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "We're not gonna get anywhere by just running out and calling for him. We need a plan."

Silence dominated for a minute and Yami thought about back when he saw Vlad. The man had an aura of power and he had no trouble believing who he was. Yami looked at Yugi, and could only imagine how he was feeling. The one vampire that Yugi wanted revenge on had slipped through his grasp, and it looked like old feelings of guilt were creeping up on him again. While Yami thought the act of revenge was beneath any of them, he did understand the need for closure. The knowledge that Tea and Grandpa's killer was walking freely was not a comforting fact, and Yami knew why they were doing what they were doing.

"If he really is the one who killed…" Yami hesitated at the thought of Tea and Solomon but then forced himself to continue. "I'll help you. I'll do what I can. Besides, it's the least I can do after you saved me…"

Yugi looked up at him slowly as if trying to comprehend what he said and it was almost like the old days where Yugi remembered him and they were united in a common goal. But then he turned away and looked at the floor.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said. Yami sighed in frustration. Yugi's new stubborn streak was going to wear thin, really fast. He didn't know how Joey and Tristan dealt with it for a year and Yami hoped that the streak wouldn't last long.

As if Yugi didn't say anything, Joey spoke up. "So then what's our plan of action? We can't go anywhere tonight but tomorrow, I say we hunt down this Alpha."

"That's a good idea," Yugi said. He shifted himself into a more comfortable position, and leaned against the wall behind the mattress, looking exhausted. "Tomorrow, one of you should go up to the factory again to restock on silver while we find a way to track him down."

"Yeah well, you're not going anywhere for a bit Yuge," Joey said. "I know you wanna go after that Alpha, but that bullet almost killed you…so take it easy for a couple of days, alright?"

Yugi looked annoyed at the request, but nodded after a couple of seconds as if he had to think it over.

"Speaking of which," Tristan said looking at Yami. "How'd ya do that glowy-healing thing? Was that the Puzzle or something?"

Yami blinked and looked down at the Millennium Puzzle hanging off of his neck. He almost forgot about the item and that he was wearing it. "I suppose so…"

"Maybe that'll come in handy in the future."

"Hey…" Yugi said suddenly, looking at the Puzzle as if he too had just realized its existence. His expression went from confusion to awe in a matter of seconds. "Wh-where did you get that?"

Yami looked at him curiously. "Why? Do you remember it?"

Yugi didn't answer at first and he continued to look at the Puzzle for another minute before answering. "I'm not sure…"

Joey ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Man, you don't remember the Items either? This is so messed up…"

"How?" Yugi looked at Joey angrily. "I don't get why this bothers you so much."

"If you remembered, then you would know why."

Yugi looked from Joey back to Yami in frustration and sighed. There was silence again in the little shed and Yami was a little disappointed that Yugi didn't press the issue. He wanted Yugi to get his memory back as soon as possible but he had no way of doing so without angering the teen, which is something that Yami did not want to do.

"So… there were some rumors popping up again…" Tristan said out of the blue. Everyone looked at him in confusion. Tristan looked at Joey. "About the cure."

Joey perked up at that. "What about it?"

"That we could actually find it in this very city."

"Really? No way!"

"What's the cure?" Yami asked. "For vampires?"

Joey nodded. "Oh yeah. Supposedly it was made back when the raid started but then it was lost. There have been rumors all over of where it could be found but no one could find it. We usually try to check in on any leads that we can find, just in case…"

"Although I was thinking that it was kinda weird that the cure and the alpha are both in the city at the same time." Tristan said. "Out of all of the cities, why here? This whole world is infested…"

"Maybe there's a connection," Yami said. Tristan looked ready to start searching then and now.

"If there is, then we should definitely find that Alpha… If he can lead us to the cure, then maybe we can get everything back to normal."

Joey put a hand on Tristan's shoulder, as if afraid that the teen would run out the door with guns blazing. "Now we shouldn't be too hasty. That alpha is pretty strong and he can't be hurt by silver bullets. We're going to need a plan."

Silence reigned again as everyone thought over what that plan should be until Joey sighed.

"How about we think about it in the morning? I'll take the first watch if you guys wanna sleep."

Yami nodded. Despite the fact that he felt that he had more energy now than right after he healed Yugi, he was still tired. It had been a long day. Yami looked over at Yugi and realized that he already fell back asleep.

" _I'll_ take first watch," Tristan said looking determinedly out the window. "I'm too wired to sleep anyway."

Joey looked at him apprehensively. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Joey hesitated for a second, then nodded before sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his gun on his lap. "Alright, just wake me when you get tired."

Tristan nodded and continued to look out the window almost in longing. Yami would have thought about it more before he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

RxR! Ideas anyone? lol

Yugisrose


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Guys, wake up!"

Yami sat upright as if hit with an electric shock. After he gave his eyes a second to adjust to the dim lighting, he looked around. Joey was standing with his gun in his hands, looking out the window. Yugi sat up too, a little slower.

"What's wrong?" Yami asked. Joey looked at him, his eyes full of alarm.

"Tristan's missing."

"Missing?" Yugi asked in shock. "How can he be missing?"

"Missing, like I woke up and he wasn't here." Joey said sounding frustrated. "I think he snuck out but I think I see vampires in the distance so I don't really wanna risk going out alone to look for him."

"Why would he sneak out?" Yami said standing up and looking out the window as well. Joey was right. There were definitely vampires walking about, around fifty yards away. Yami could see their shadows skulking about as if looking for something.

"Maybe he saw the Alpha or something?" Joey suggested. "Or maybe he chased a vampire away. Either way, it's unlike him to just run off without saying anything."

At the mention of the Alpha, Yugi shakily stood and looked out the window as well. "Well then we should go looking for him then."

"Woah, are you sure Yugi?" Yami asked. Yugi still looked like he was in a lot of pain but his determination was seemingly overriding it. "Maybe you should stay here…"

Yugi glared at him. "And do what? Draw on the walls?"

Joey gave Yami a, "Don't try and argue with him" look and put his hand on the door knob.

"Let's just do this. Stay close to each other and try and be quiet. Let's start by the factory and work our way out but _stay out of sight_."

Joey quietly opened the door and the three of them slinked out of the shack. It was still in the middle of the night so everything was still, save for the vampires in the distance. Without a sound, they inched around to the side of the building, out of sight of them. Yami was sure that the darkness that was tonight was darker than he was used to. He didn't remember the nighttime being such back a year ago. With that in mind, Yami made sure that Joey didn't walk into anything by accident because he was sure that it was almost impossible for the blonde to see a thing. However, even with his heightened senses, Yami found the extra darkness to be unnerving. Was it this dark every night?

They walked silently, careful not to accidentally kick dirt or brush against anything that would give their position away. Soon, the factory was in front of them, looming ominously in the darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, Yami saw Yugi point in front of them, and Yami immediately knew why. Another group of vampires were gathered in front of the factory. There were about ten of them, clustered together in a circle. The group seemed to be talking in harsh tones so the three of them inched closer to find out why. When they got within earshot, they kneeled by a bush and didn't move.

"But I still don't get it!" One of the vampires had said. "Vlad could easily could have taken out those brats! Why didn't he?"

"Well we were getting fired at with silver…" Another had said in a low, defeated voice. Due to the darkness pervading the air, Yami found it hard to see who was speaking or what they looked like. "A lot of us died…"

"Yes I see that, but silver doesn't hurt Vlad like it hurts us! He still could have taken them down, so why didn't he?"

"Does it matter?" This one sounded like a small female child. Hearing it took Yami's breath away because it sounded innocent yet full of darkness at the same time. "We really don't need him to destroy this factory. We can do it… In fact, I say we do it right now!"

There was a collective gasp.

"You can't be serious. You know how much silver is in there… what kind of wardings there are…"

"Obviously, I am," The little girl said. Even though her voice was small, she sounded older than all the others. "I heard that Aelfric has one of the humans who helped put it up. If we get him, then he can take down the wardings for us."

"…I don't think Aelfric will want to help us. He's too into looking down on us to do that…not to mention his rank…"

"So what if he's Vlad's right hand? If the Alpha himself was willing to come here and help take down this factory, he should be too!"

Yami saw Joey stiffen at that, confirming what he thought. Tristan was captured… and they planned on using him to take down the factory. They had to do something.

There was a murmur of agreement within the pack and something else was said before they all started to walk away. Without any confirmation with each other, the three of them followed the group as quietly as they could.

Yami thought about what the little girl said. Whoever "Aelfric" was, wasn't to be messed with if he was Vlad's right hand vampire. How were they going to get Tristan back by something so powerful? Yami thought about pulling Yugi and Joey to the side at some point to think up a plan. They couldn't just go in there with guns blazing, they would all be killed.

The pack led them through a housing development that was directly in front of the factory. The streets were lined up in a crisscross type fashion and all of the houses looked like the same, generic kind of suburban neighborhood. Yami, Joey and Yugi went behind houses and trees to avoid being seen as they tailed the pack.

As they got farther in, the number of vampires in the area, tripled. Yami saw them on the rooftops, in trees and on the streets. There were so many spread out, that he, Joey and Yugi had to stop following the pack if they wanted to remain hidden. Luckily, they saw which house the pack stopped in front of. Yami saw the pack stop in front of the house for a few minutes, before the little girl went inside, the other vampires around being extra watchful.

Joey motioned for them to step to the side of the house they were hiding behind. The three of them gathered out of sight on the back porch of the house.

"So what are we gonna do?" Joey whispered. "Tristan could be in there…"

"We can try to find a way to sneak in," Yami said. "Maybe we could find a diversion to get all the vampires to leave the area."

"That won't work," Yugi said, pulling out his gun. "We're going to have to kill them all if we want to get inside."

Yami saw Joey give him a shocked look. "What? We can't do that ourselves…there are too many of them!"

"We've taken on more than this before, Joey."

"With Tristan's help!"

"Yugi, we can't just kill every vampire that we see." Yami said trying to reason with him, which only got him a glare from the teen. "Look…if there really is a cure out there, then what will be the point in finding it if you kill all the vampires?"

"Yeah, that's right," Joey said, nodding. "There will be no people to turn back to normal if we kill them all pointlessly."

Yugi looked away from them as he spoke. "That's okay, because the cure is impossible to get anyway."

Joey blinked. "What makes you say that?"

"Because it is," Yugi looked back at them with a determined expression. "And it's kill or be killed out here. You should know that Joey."

"Yeah, but-"

"I'll do it alone then. If there's even a possibility that the Alpha is in there, I have to take the chance." Yugi said. "Come or stay. It's up to you."

With that, Yugi ran around the house, towards the vampires.

"Yugi stop!" Yami almost yelled but Joey pulled him back. "What are you doing?"

"Don't get yourself killed."

"But-"

"We can help him from afar. C'mon…"

Joey led him to the side of the house that had a fire escape ladder going down the side. He started to climb and reluctantly, Yami followed. When they got to the top floor, they climbed into an empty bedroom littered with clothes and a broken dresser. Joey ignored all of that and went to the window facing all of the vampires, took out his gun and pointed it in that direction.

Yami came up behind him. "Joey, why did-"

"We're not gonna stop Yugi when he gets like this. I've tried and failed once before and learned my lesson…so the best we can do is help from afar. I'll shoot anything that gets too close."

Feeling nervous, Yami looked out the window as well. Yugi was pretty close to the first set of vampires but none of them were alerted to his presence yet.

"This isn't right…" Yami said in a whisper. The intensity to which Yugi had changed was frightening him. If there was one thing that Yami learned while sharing a body with Yugi, it was that solving problems with kindness and compassion were the most effective ways to survive. Now, Yugi was going against everything that he taught him. Joey gave him a sideways glance, before focusing his eyes back outside.

"He doesn't usually get like this," he said with a sigh. "I think seeing the Alpha earlier set him off."

"Yugi's _never_ …" Yami whispered again. He couldn't even properly say what was in his mind because he was so shocked. "…I just can't believe…"

Joey nodded in understanding. "I think _you_ can fix him though."

"What? How?"

"Well…" Joey sighed taking his eyes temporarily off the impending battle. "I think that you can get his memories back…and if that happens, then maybe he'll turn mostly back to normal."

"Mostly?"

"Well yeah…" Joey looked back outside but as if not really seeing it at all. "There are some things that happened that we all will still remember that will haunt us for the rest of our lives…"

"Oh…"

"But if we get out of this mess that we're in now, promise me that you'll get his memories back."

"Of course," Yami said, feeling as though he would have tried to do it anyway. They all helped him get _his_ memories back. "But what are the chances that we'll get out of this mess?"

Yami looked back outside, and looked at the vast numbers of vampires that he could see…and that was just in plain sight. There could very well be more lurking in the shadows. How was Yugi supposed to take on all of them himself? Joey looked at him seriously.

"I think that there's a good chance that we'll walk away from this…as long as the Alpha isn't in there."

Yami blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah… I've caught Yugi fighting sometimes… this really shouldn't be a problem."

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of a gunshot echoing off of the vacant buildings. Yami and Joey looked outside to see mass confusion around a vampire that was shot dead. Three more shots and dead vampires later, the enemies finally realized that Yugi was there, picking them off with silver bullets. Vampires started to jump of the houses and climb out of the windows of certain houses to attack. In a few seconds, they would all be on top of Yugi.

"Joey…" Yami said warningly.

"I got this," Joey said, aiming. In a second, Joey fired of five shots. Yami covered his ears but the sound was still deafening. "Good thing we stocked up…"

Yami looked on and saw a lot of dead vampires already. Joey was a pretty good shot himself. Looking in the middle of the crowd, was Yugi, fighting more than Yami had ever seen anyone do. If he moved any faster, Yami wouldn't have been able to follow him. Yugi sliced with blinding speed, and at the same time, was avoiding all of the other attacks. None of the other vampires could hit him. Within five minutes, most of them were dead, and Yugi was still untouched. However, more vampires in the distance had heard the commotion and were on their way as fast as they could run…which was pretty fast. Some of the ones that were coming had guns themselves.

"Joey," Yami pointed at the incoming enemies. "Get those!"

"Got it," Joey pointed and shot again. This time, a few of the closer vampires grew smart to their whereabouts and were coming right for the house they were standing in. "Don't forget about _your_ gun!"

"Oh…right," Yami pulled it out and prepared it just like Yugi had taught him to do. He aimed at the closest one, and pulled the trigger. The vampire was shot but Yami was not prepared for the kickback, so the gun flew out of his hand and landed in the back of the room somewhere.

"Why didn't anyone tell me it would do that?!" Yami said feeling frustrated, rubbing his hand.

"Don't worry, I've got these," Joey said. He was still aiming his gun for the next shot but Yami could still see Joey smirk. "Go find your gun."

Ignoring the sounds of more guns firing, Yami went to the back of the room and found his gun on top of a pile of clothes. He picked it up despite the fact that he wasn't sure if he wanted to use it again. However, sounds from behind the closed door caught his attention. It almost sounded like someone walking up what he was sure were stairs. But Yami realized that someone was behind the door too late and it flew open. Joey whirled around and Yami stepped back. Two vampires stood in the doorway, one male and one female, their eyes glowing bright red. Yami barely had time to yell a warning before they were on top of him. The female had pinned him against the wall and the other took Joey's gun before he had a chance to fire it and snapped it in two. Both pieces clattered to the ground, and the remainder of the silver bullets inside rolled away in different directions. The male vampire chuckled.

"Thought you could get a one up on us, eh humans?"

"What do you want to do with them?" the female snarled, her teeth showing more than they should have. The male looked at Joey.

"I'm pretty hungry…this one looks delicious."

"Yeah there's no way you're gonna suck me dry!" Joey said defiantly. He pulled out a small knife but the vampire smacked it out of his hand and it clattered to the floor much like his gun did. "Hey!"

"This won't take long," he said bearing his teeth.

"Well hurry up." The female holding Yami said. "I want to kill this one."

As the male vampire got closer to Joey, Yami tried desperately to think of something to say to distract them. However, nothing came to mind. He tried to get out of the woman's grasp but her hold was too strong. Joey was about to get sucked dry and there was nothing that he could do to help. Images of Grandpa and Tea dead came to his mind's eye and he was unprepared for what came next.

A sudden power surge that had nothing to do the Puzzle came over him. He suddenly felt like he could do anything, and yet it was power that came in a detached way. He didn't care about what was going to happen except that these two vampires were going to die. He could feel his strength grow and his nails extend. Before Yami knew it, had stabbed the female through the chest with the knife that was on the floor a second ago. The vampire fell to the floor in a heap, and it didn't take long for the male to attack him as well. Without thinking about it he used the knife to cut the man's throat. He fell just like his comrade.

"Dude!"

Yami looked at Joey, and the look of fear that he was giving him caused the vampiric power to fade back into dormancy as it was before. After the power faded, Yami looked at the bodies of the vampires in realization of what he had done. The fact that he had accidentally killed them crashed down on him and he could only look at the blood covering the floor in shock for a moment.

"You okay man?" Joey said. He still sounded fearful.

Yami shook his head to clear it, still shocked by what he did. "Yes Joey… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"

"What brought _that_ on? Cause that was kinda freaky."

Yami felt ashamed of himself for giving in to the powers of the vampire. While using it, he felt less human, and it was frightening. He looked at Joey.

"I didn't want him to kill you…"

Joey's eyes softened at that and they stood in silence for a few seconds before Yami realized that something felt wrong. He looked at the window and realized that silence was the problem. There were no more shouts, gun shots or screams. Joey seemed to realize this as well and they both walked to the window to see what had happened.

Bodies littered the streets of the neighborhood. They were in the roads, hanging out of windows and draped over roofs. Yami could smell the blood from where they were. He didn't have to search long for Yugi because he was one of the only ones standing. There was him, and the little girl that had gone into the house before. They were having a conversation, but even with his heightened sense of hearing, Yami couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Come on," Yami motioned for Joey to follow. They both exited the house and cautiously jogged over to where they were standing.

"Who are you?" the little girl yelled as they got closer. Yugi turned to look at them too, and Yami was shocked to see that his eyes were red, much like the vampires from before. The glow faded after a couple of seconds though and he retained his normal look.

"They're my friends," Yugi said turning back to her.

"What's going on?" Joey asked. The little girl huffed.

"We're making a deal."

"What? Why?"

"Because they said that they would kill Tristan if we continued." Yugi said sounding angry. "You didn't tell me what you wanted in exchange."

The little girl smirked, her vampire teeth showing. Yami got nervous. He knew what she was going to ask for. All vampires wanted the silver in that factory destroyed or buried somewhere, that was a fact. Yami was positive that she was going to ask for them to get rid of their protections on the factory. However, her answer surprised him.

"I want you to battle Aelfric. He's next in line after Vlad."

Yugi looked surprised. "Why?"

"Because I want some entertainment. This city got so boring since all the humans left…well…most of them anyway," she added looking at Joey. After fluffing her pink dress, she crossed her arms and looked at Yugi in annoyance. "Well? What's it gonna be? If you took down all these guys by yourself, then you should be able to battle Aelfric!"

"What? Don't do it Yugi," Joey said. He grabbed the gun from Yami's hand and pointed it at the little girl. "I'll do this instead."

"If you kill me," the little girl said calmly. "Then Aelfric will automatically turn your friend into a vampire. Then you can fight _him_ instead."

"Joey…" Yami muttered to the blond. "Put it down."

After a moment's hesitation, Joey complied. Yugi looked at him.

"It's alright Joey, I'll do it…. but not just for Tristan. If I can beat the next vampire in line after the Alpha, then I'll know that I'll have a chance against him…"

"Don't be crazy, man! Those top tier vampires are in a different league from all these other ones. You'll get yourself killed!"

"I have to do this!" Yugi said sternly. "I have to make it up to all of our friends…somehow."

Joey looked confused. "What?"

Yami looked at Yugi and felt as though he was doing this more than what he said. There was a hidden meaning behind his words and there was a sudden connection between the two of them that wasn't achieved in over a year. Yami took a step forward.

"Then I'm helping." He said. Yugi opened his mouth as if he was going to protest, but then stopped himself and nodded. The little girl laughed.

"Fine, that won't make much of a difference mind you. Aelfric will plow you both to the ground."

"You two are crazy!" Joey protested looking back and forth between the two of them. "What makes you think you can take on this guy?"

Yami thought about it, and knew where Joey was coming from. He himself just proved that he couldn't control his vampiric powers yet, and he and Yugi's friendship was still rocky. However, Yami knew that he returned from the afterlife for a reason. If this wasn't it…

"Well let's get this started then!" The little girl brought her hand to her mouth and whistled. Yami and Yugi covered their ears. When she was done, silence reigned and everyone looked at her in confusion.

"What was that for?" Joey asked.

"Really, must you call me that way?" said a voice to their left.

Yami immediately looked to see a figure on the roof. Before he had time to register the figure's appearance, it jumped off of the roof and landed next to the little girl.

"Now Nina, you should know better than to call me that way," he said straightening up. "So these are my challengers?"

Aelfric was muscular and tall. That was the first thing Yami noticed about him. He looked like he could lift a crowd of people with no problem and he was dressed in a red robe that had the sleeves ripped off, as if he wanted to show off his muscular arms. The hood to the robe was intact however, and it was placed overtop his head so that only a few locks of his long golden hair could be seen. Aelfric gazed at them with harsh red eyes that glowed in the darkness.

"They don't look like much. Are you sure that these are the ones that Vlad was going on about?"

The little girl, Nina, rolled her eyes. "Do you see what's around you?"

Aelfric blinked and looked as she said, as if truly seeing his surroundings for the first time. "Huh… that sucks…"

Nina gave him an angry look. "They're all dead! Don't you want revenge?"

Aelfric chuckled, the sound reverberating off of the streets. "For them? They were nothing… not even strong enough for our cause." He looked at Yugi and Yami with interest. "What I do care about is what Vlad has been telling me. Apparently, one of _you_ were the first vampire he's turned in a very long time… _not_ me. Tell me… which one of you is it?"

"Why does it matter?" Yugi asked, looking tense. Aelfric eyed him carefully.

"Because the first that are turned, are the strongest vampires that an Alpha can make. The more that are made, the weaker they get. For the longest time, Vlad tells me that I was the first he's ever created…that I couldn't be beaten. Now, I learn that this was a lie, and that there was one more before me…"

No one said anything so he continued.

"Then I learn that something went wrong in the transformation process… that the first vampire that Vlad created was only half of a vampire…" Aelfric took a step forward. "A half vampire… something that is at half of the power of a regular vampire… yet still the first. I must know… how strong you are."

Yami was getting more and more nervous. Aelfric was radiating a strong power that was due to burst at any moment. This vampire looked like no joke and Yami was starting to second guess fighting him. However, he knew that leaving wasn't an option now, and they had to get Tristan back somehow.

"If we battle you and win, then you must promise to set our friend free." Yami said, his voice showing confidence that he didn't think he felt. Aelfric smirked, showing his long fangs.

"Fine, but before we start I must know a couple of things…" he looked from Yami to Yugi with a look of confusion. "You two are very similar… yet only one of you was turned by Vlad… how is that possible?"

Sharing a quick glance with Yugi, Yami decided to answer truthfully. "We don't know…"

Aelfric's brow furrowed as he looked at Yugi. "… You were the one he turned… I can tell. Tell me… why did you not fully transform when Vlad turned you?"

"Defeat me and I'll tell you," Yugi said simply. Aelfric chuckled.

"If you wish." He shifted himself into a defensive stance. "Let's go."

Before Yami know what to say, Yugi was already running towards the vampire with a silver knife in hand.

"Yugi, wait!"

Nina jumped back as Yugi ran up on Aelfric and started slicing at him. However, despite his size, Aelfric was very fast. He dodged every attack that Yugi tried to hit him with and once there was an opening, he knocked the knife out of his hand. The knife hit the ground with a clatter and skid off somewhere in the sea of vampire bodies. Yugi jumped back as Aelfric waved his index finger at him.

"Ah ah, no toys. If I'm going to see what your power is like, you must fight only with your vampiric powers."

Without waiting for any sort of response, Aelfric sprinted towards Yugi, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall of the nearest house. Yugi tried to break free but he looked like he was having trouble. Aelfric smirked.

"As a vampire you should be able to get out of this hold easily." Aelfric eyes then narrowed. "Ah, but you are wounded? Well then this is going to be a bit harder for you, isn't it?"

Yami decided that enough was enough. If they were going to survive this, he was going to have to endure using his vampiric powers, like Aelfric wanted. Yami reached within himself, thinking about what happened inside that house only minutes before. The feeling came over him again and the power of the vampire made itself known.

Immediately, he ran over to Aelfric to deliver an attack. However, he ran faster than he was anticipating and accidentally slammed himself into the large vampire's side. Not expecting such a reckless attack, Aelfric was caught off guard. He was pushed five feet to the side, and dropped Yugi, who landed on his feet giving Yami a shocked look.

Yami didn't have time to say anything to Yugi though, as Aelfric was already straightening up, rubbing his side.

"Not bad," he said looking more interested than he had five minutes ago. "But you're going to need more than that to defeat me."

"Don't worry, we've got it," Yami said. Without warning, he ran over to the vampire again intent on hitting him again. However, Aelfric was ready and dodged the attack. He parried with extended claws but Yami could feel it coming and was able to dodge it. But what Yami didn't see coming was a kick aimed his way. He was sure that he was going to be hit with it and sent flying but what he didn't expect was for Yugi to parry the kick himself, and using Aelfric's size against him. The vampire was spun in the air from the force of his own kick and tripped to the ground. Yugi looked at Yami angrily.

"If you're going to leave yourself open like that, then don't fight."

Yami was going to retaliate but Aelfric stood up looking excited. He dropped his hood and waist long blond hair fell, partially covering his scarred and built face.

"Looks like we're starting to get serious. If you are, then I will too!"

A red aura started to emanate from the vampire and Yami could feel the power causing the air to become oppressive. Then, the aura coalesced into Aelfric's open palm into a large ball of energy.

"Let's see how you two hold up against a doom blast," Aelfric said before he fired the ball of energy towards them. After he fired it, the ball doubled in size as a wave of death.

Yami's immediate instinct was to get out of the way but then he realized that Joey was right behind them. If they moved, then Joey could get seriously hurt.

As if the attack was coming in slow motion, Yami looked at Yugi and knew that they were both thinking the same thing. They had to stop the attack. Without thinking, Yami put his hand on Yugi's shoulder, a way to brace them both for what was coming. However, as soon as he made the contact, a spark ignited between their souls. Their powers combined and Yami felt as if he was made whole, although he didn't ever remember not being so. Old memories came to his mind of when he and Yugi were a team and in the same body, working to achieve the same goal.

The energy that was created out of these memories surged outwards from both of them, as if they were one again. The surge hit Aelfric's attack, and sent it right back from where it came from. Unprepared, the vampire could only brace himself from being hit with his own attack. There was an explosion of energy, and Yami immediately let go of Yugi and the energy surge died down. Aelfric screamed and when the dust cleared, he was looking angry and disheveled.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that…" he said.

Yugi gave Yami a sideways glance as if he was thinking the same thing but then directed his full attention back on Aelfric. Without a warning, he ran up to Aelfric to attack him once again.

"No, stop!" Yami yelled because he knew attacking a powerful vampire head on wasn't going to end well and he was right. Aelfric seemed to be ready this time and dodged Yugi's punch. Quickly, the vampire grabbed Yugi in his injured shoulder and forced him to the ground. The teen was then unable to move and Yami could only imagine how painful that was. "Let him go!"

"Why don't you make me?" Aelfric smirked at him, his eyes glowing red. Yami knew that he was baiting him, but he didn't know what else to do. The vampire had reopened Yugi's wound so that blood started to soak his shoulder again and Yugi seemed to be unable to throw Aelfric off. Without much consideration, Yami did the same thing that Yugi did and rushed at the vampire.

Reaching for the power inside of him once more Yami extended claws that he didn't think he had and slashed at the vampire. The attack hit but he might as well have hit steel, as it didn't do any damage. Yami jumped back and Aelfric smirked.

"Your power is nothing," he said, extending his own claws. He looked like he was going to say more but before he had the chance, a whip and a thunk permeated the air followed by Aelfric's scream. "Argh! What is this?"

Yami immediately saw what had made the vampire scream. A knife was sticking out of Aelfric's arm, and by the way the skin around it started to sizzle, he knew that it was a silver knife. Aelfric noticed too and he stood, quickly taking the knife out of his arm.

"Who…?!" he yelled looking around.

Yami immediately knew who threw the knife. He looked back at Joey who was wearing a satisfied smirk on his face.

"That's what ya get for messing with my friends!" the blond said. Aelfric immediately got angry.

"Human, this is _not_ your fight-"

"Aelfric," Nina piped up and walked over towards him. "The fight is done. The poison from the silver is going to overtake you if we don't treat you now."

Aelfric looked like he was going to argue but seemed to think against it. He nodded, and then looked at both Yami and Yugi.

"This isn't over." He said

Then Aelfric and Nina ran off between houses and out of sight. Yami looked at Joey with gratitude.

"Thank you, Joey. That was an excellent shot."

Yugi shakily stood up not looking happy. "Except that it scared him off."

"Sorry man, but you guys weren't gonna win that fight," said Joey. "He's just too strong."

"You don't know that!" Yugi rounded on him. Joey started to look angry himself.

"Did you forget what we came here for? Remember Tristan?"

Yugi blinked, as if he indeed forgot that they originally came out to save Tristan. Yami shared a nervous glance with the blonde.

"Let's just go and look for him," Yami said starting to walk towards the house they saw all the vampires at earlier. "He should be this way."

There were no more arguments and their walk was silent until they got inside. The house was indeed devoid of any vampires, but it wasn't like Yami was expecting. He thought that when they got inside, that they would find a sort of torture chamber with red curtains and blood coating the walls. Instead it looked like a rich family lived there, complete with a plush couch, a fancy rug and black silk curtains coating the windows. The three of them stood in the living room admiring the décor.

"Well… this is nice," Joey said testing the couch. "Think this can fit in base?"

"It wouldn't even fit through the front door," Yugi said. "Besides, we don't have a way to get it there."

"Hmm…yeah. I guess we'll need a different spoil of war."

Yami ignored him. "Tristan!" he called out. There was a ringing silence that followed before Joey called out as well.

There was no answer until there was a loud bang from down the hallway to their left. Joey jumped but quickly regained his composure and ran over to the sound. He stood in the middle of the hallway and looked at each of the five closed doors that occupied it. He winked at Yami.

"Marco!" he yelled. There was more silence and Yami couldn't help but look at Joey with confusion.

"Joey, what-"

"Polo…" came a soft voice from the room farthest from the entrance to the hallway. Yami and Joey shared a surprised glance. That didn't sound like Tristan…

Joey quickly opened the door and Yami and Yugi joined him in the doorway. The room was dark but Yami had no trouble seeing who stood in the middle of the bedroom with a look of shock on his face.

"M-mokuba?!"

* * *

Thanks guys for all the reviews and favs! You actually remind me to publish! lol!

Let me know if anyone has any bright ideas!

Yugisrose


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The youngest of the Kaibas stared at them for a moment in shock. Joey squinted in the darkness, unable to see the without light.

"Do you see who's in there? Is it another vampire?" he asked.

"No…" Yami said. "It's Mokuba!"

"What?!"

"G-guys?" Mokuba said. Even though it was dark, Yami had no trouble making out his appearance. The clothes he wore were the same that he always wore and they actually didn't look dirty or anything. However, the boy's skin was pale and he looked like he lost weight that he wasn't supposed to lose. "What are you doing here? How did you get in this place?"

Joey looked as though his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and was squinting at Mokuba. "That's a long story… is this where you've been for the past year? Your brother was looking for you for a long time ya know…"

A jumble mix of emotions came over Mokuba's face but concern was dominant. "I know… they kept me here to get to Seto… I've heard them saying that they used me as leverage."

"Well we're here to bust ya out!" Joey said. He stepped aside to allow Mokuba to pass. Hesitantly, he obliged and came out into the hallway with them. Mokuba looked at them all warily, and his eyes stopped on Yami.

"You're the Pharaoh…" he said in awe. "I thought you left…?"

"That's a long story," Yami said. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"But wait! What about all of the vampires?"

"They're gone."

Mokuba looked confused as Joey led him out into the empty living room.

"Where'd they all go?"

"Eh…let's just say that they won't be coming back…"

"What?"

Once they exited the house, Mokuba froze and Yami couldn't blame him. The bodies of hundreds of vampires littered the streets and if you weren't expecting it, seeing that scene would defiantly throw someone off guard.

"What happened?" Mokuba sounded shocked. Yami looked over at Yugi who wasn't paying him any mind, but staring over at the carnage with a look of indifference.

"We'll tell you later," Yami said. "Let's just get out of here."

And so, they walked out of the development and the smell of blood started to fade. However, it didn't disappear completely, and they had to constantly hide behind trees or buildings in order to evade vampires that the smell of blood was luring in. It took about an hour, but they finally reached the borders of the silver factory and sneaked back into the shack, which was exactly how they left it. Once Yami closed the door, Mokuba started with the questions.

"Alright what's been going on?"

"Well vampires… as you know…" Joey said rummaging through a box next to the couch. He pulled out what looked like a granola bar and handed it to Mokuba. "Here…"

"Food!" Mokuba snatched it and ate it in practically one gulp.

"Woah, don't chew it or anything…"

"What I was hungry."

"Didn't they feed you over there?"

Mokuba sighed. "No not really…well they fed me enough to keep me alive."

"Well when we get back to base, you can get more food there," Joey said sitting on the mattress that was on the floor. "We can't give you back to your brother looking like a twig."

At the mention of his brother, Mokuba perked up. "Seto? Do you know where he is?"

"Uh…" Joey said looking unsure. Yami shrugged. He wasn't here for very long and this is the most he heard of Kaiba since he woke up here.

"Last I checked, he was in the next town over," Yugi spoke up. Mokuba looked at him in surprise.

"Really? Why?"

"Because the vampires were using you to get to him. He couldn't stay here and save you at the same time."

"I don't get it…" Mokuba said. "You guys stayed in the city."

"I don't pretend to know what goes on in that head of his," Joey said shrugging. "But if you want, we can take you to him… as long as we can find him."

"Really?" Mokuba's eyes lit up. "Thank you! When can we leave?"

"Probably morning," Joey said looking out the window. "Less vampires are out then."

"Mokuba," Yami said. "You didn't happen to see Tristan, did you?"

"No… I didn't…"

"Where could he have gone?" Joey said standing and looking out the window once more. "He usually doesn't just run off like that…"

"Here, I'll go and look for him," Yugi said heading towards the door. Joey immediately got up and blocked it.

"Dude, you just took out an entire army… chill out for a second." Yugi started to get angry.

"There was never time for that and now thanks to you for scaring Aelfric away, there's even less. Now move."

Joey started to look angry too. "Or else what?"

"Or else I'll make you."

A range of emotions came over Joey's face and it looked like he wasn't going to move. But then after a few seconds, the blonde caved in and moved to the side.

"Yugi, wait!" Yami said but he might as well have talked to the wall for the response he got. Yugi walked out and the door closed behind him.

"What's going on with him?" Mokuba asked. Yami made for the door too.

"Nothing good." He said. He looked at Joey. "We'll be back."

Joey nodded. "Alright be careful…"

Yami exited the shack and immediately spotted Yugi running from the factory at a high speed. He knew that as a half vampire that Yugi had more speed than a regular human but since Yami was one as well, he knew he could keep up. He reached for the vampiric power inside of him again and started to run. He was past the factory and catching up to Yugi faster than he would have expected.

By the time Yugi realized that he was following him, Yami was already pretty close.

"Yugi, wait!"

Without an answer, Yugi picked up his speed and headed deeper into the city. Yami didn't hesitate and followed him. They ran down side streets and past tall buildings yet Yami didn't let up or let Yugi out of his sight. Any vampire that he saw didn't try to attack them or chase them. It was almost like they didn't want to get involved for whatever reason. Either way, Yami was glad when Yugi stopped and there were no other vampires around.

"Yugi, where are you going? Can you stop for a minute?"

"If you really want to tag along, you have to be able to keep up." Yugi said. He turned to the buildings behind him and ran in between them in the alleyway.

Yami watched in awe as Yugi jumped up on the side of one of the buildings and then jumped to the wall on the other side, which was a few feet away. He continued to wall jump higher and higher until he reached the top of the building and landed on the roof. Yugi looked down at him, as if waiting for him to follow.

"Alright then…if that's the way you want it…" Yami ran up to the side of the building, jumped and attempted to jump off of it. However, he underestimated how far he had to jump to the other side and didn't quite make it. He fell to the ground feeling frustrated. After he got back up he looked up at Yugi in annoyance. "Is this really necessary?" he yelled up to him.

"You're not using your power fully," Yugi said. "You need to call it forth or else you'll never get up here."

"Yes but…" Yami hesitated. He didn't want to say how using the power made him feel less human than he feels comfortable with, but it was true. Every time he used it, he felt a little more of his humanity slip away and Yami feared that if he used it too much, that he would turn into a vampire fully. However, it didn't look like Yugi was going to come down anytime soon so Yami decided to deal with it for the moment and talk to Yugi about it later.

Reaching for the vampiric power again, he felt it come over his senses again, and suddenly, jumping up the building didn't seem like that daunting of a task. He ran up to it, and wall jumped up the side just as easily as Yugi had. Once he was at the top, he let go of the power, not keen to keep it active any longer than he had to. Yugi noticed however and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What, are you afraid of it?" he asked.

"I don't like how it feels," Yami admitted. "It's not right."

"…You know without it, you won't survive in this world…not for long."

"That may not be entirely true."

Yugi ignored that statement. "And also without it, you won't be able to keep up." Immediately, Yugi started to run along the rooftops of the buildings. Yami followed but once Yugi started to jump from building to building did the ex-pharaoh have to resort to using his vampiric power to keep up.

"Yugi, wait! This isn't necessary!"

"Of course it is," Yugi immediately stopped and did so suddenly so that Yami had to swerve to avoid hitting him. "Look…"

Yami looked down to where he had pointed and gasped. There was a group of vampires down on the street below. The group of ten was gathered around a single rusted car on the side of the road. On top of that car was none other than Tristan, who was standing on top of it with his silver blade pointed out. His voice echoed up to them as he yelled at the vampires.

"Don't you touch me," he yelled, pointing his knife towards any of them who would come too close to the car. "I'll slice you all open. Try it."

There was a collective snicker from the group of vampires yet none of them tried to get any closer.

"You think you can last against all of us kid?" One vampire asked. "You're outnumbered."

"Yeah?" Tristan said with a grimace, as if he was regretting his life decisions. "Then why don't you come at me already?"

"Oh no…" Yami said. "We have to help him!"

"Go ahead," Yugi said. Yami looked at him quickly and realized that Yugi was looking down at the scene below them with indifference.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you can take them on your own." Yugi looked at him, almost in amusement. "See? You're really going to need that power now."

"What?" Yami started to feel nervous. He wasn't sure what Yugi's plan was but he wasn't liking it already. "I can't take them all on, I don't have enough experience to-"

"Better hurry," Yugi said looking back down at the scene below. "They're going to attack him soon."

Yami looked back and forth from Yugi to Tristan for a few seconds trying to decide what to do. However, when it looked like the vampires were getting ready to strike, he made up his mind.

"Fine," Yami said grudgingly reaching for the power within him. "But back me up, alright?"

Without waiting for an answer, Yami jumped off of the building and landed neatly on the curb across from where the car was. Immediately, all heads turned towards him. The vampires looked confused, but Tristan looked overjoyed.

"Leave him alone," Yami said in a low voice. All the vampires looked at each other as if considering their options then looked back at him with smirks on all of their faces.

"Yeah? What are you going to do about it?" one of them asked. Yami tried to not let his nervousness show.

"I'll…" Yami started to say then trailed off. Behind the car from an alleyway came a figure. The other vampires noticed him looking, looked, and gasped. The figure who just appeared was none other than Vlad himself. His cape fluttered in the nonexistent breeze as he looked at his comrades. They all backed away as if they were being punished and huddled in a corner.

A cold weight dropped in Yami's stomach. Why was he here?!

Vlad looked at him with interest, ignoring Tristan who was still on top of the car.

"I was hoping to lure you two out again." He said simply. Yami didn't say anything. He was unsure of how to react or what to do. He was ready to take down those lesser vampires but there was no way he was going to be able to take on the Alpha himself.

Then all of a sudden, there was a whoosh of air, and Yugi landed next to him looking murderous. Without missing a beat, he charged at the Alpha which Yami knew was a bad idea.

"Yugi, wait!"

But it was too late. Yugi made to slash at the Alpha but Vlad was too fast. Before Yugi could get his attack in, Vlad grabbed him by the injured shoulder, much like Aelfric did, and slammed him back on the ground. Yugi grunted in pain and tried desperately to get at the alpha but to no avail.

"Hold on!" Yami rushed towards the alpha intent on freeing his friend. But before he even got close, his body froze in place. Vlad's strange power was keeping him from moving. Nothing he did got him to move and fear started to cloud Yami's mind. What was going to happen to them? Vlad gave him a small smile.

"Even as a partial vampire, I still have control over you." Vlad looked back and forth between the both of them. "Now I lured you both out for a reason: I want answers. Now that we don't have bullets flying everywhere, we can talk like civil adults."

"Guess again!" Tristan yelled from on top of the car. He threw the silver knife he was holding towards the alpha but just like everything else, it was intercepted by Vlad's power and never reached its target. The knife was surrounded in a red aura, stopped in midair and flew off somewhere in the distance. Tristan looked surprised.

"I need a few moments thank you very much," Vlad said sounding slightly annoyed. A sudden force came from him that knocked Tristan off of the car. Not only did it knock him off of the car but he flew back several feet, and landed behind a dumpster. The vampires laughed and jeered but Tristan did not reemerge.

"Tristan!" Yami struggled against his invisible restraints but it was pointless. He wasn't going to be able to move until Vlad allowed it. The same was still for Yugi although Vlad seemed to be enjoying causing the teen pain from his wound so he still had him held down.

As if he wasn't interrupted, Vlad continued. "How have you two come to be?"

Yugi acted as if he didn't hear the question and continued to struggle. Yami wouldn't have answered even if he knew what the alpha was talking about. However, he wanted to stall for time until some sort of distraction happened to where they could escape.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I meant what I asked." Vlad looked at Yugi. "I have never produced a half vampire before. Something about you must have made that happen. I want to know what that is. Also…" he looked at Yami. "I want to know where you came from. You were not created by me or any other vampire here. Did you spawn from _this_ one? Are you merely a thought-form, created by a strange vampiric power? Tell me now."

Vlad made sure to put extra pressure on Yugi's wound causing the teen to groan, but that didn't stop his stubbornness.

"Let us go and we'll tell you!" he winced. Vlad chuckled.

"No, if I let you go, you will want to engage in combat. You won't win, but I don't want to kill the two of you just yet. Not until I get the answers I desire."

Yami and Yugi said nothing for a moment and Vlad sighed as if he was being inconvenienced.

"Well let's up the price a little, shall we?" Vlad waved his hand and suddenly the world turned to darkness. Yami blinked and then suddenly they were in front of the silver factory. Joey and Tristan's sigils were still visible from where they were standing. Black smoke trailed off of them and Yami suddenly realized that they had just shadow traveled the same way that Vlad did when they first saw him. Once the darkness fully cleared Vlad picked Yugi up by the front of his shirt and started to walk towards the factory.

"Hey!" Yami struggled but he was as immobile as he was before. "What are you doing?"

"As you humans say, giving you a… 'taste of your own medicine,'" Vlad said with a small smirk.

Yami realized what Vlad was up to. The silver might not bother the alpha all that much, but it would for Yugi. Yami was told about all of the wardings against vampires that were on that factory but didn't know what was going to happen. When they got about fifty feet from the building, Yugi started to struggle more so than he was. When they got around twenty feet, Yugi started to yell in pain.

"Stop it!" Yami yelled. He knew that struggling was pointless but he couldn't help it. Yugi was pretty much being tortured and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.

"Tell me what I want to know then." Vlad said with a raised voice. "These wards will eventually drain the life force from him. But if you tell me what I want to know, maybe I will spare the two of you."

"You're lying!"

Vlad chuckled ever so slightly. "Try me."

Yami hesitated before he spoke, wanting the alpha to stop what he was doing. "Look, as for how I got here…I don't know how it happened. It's all a mystery."

Vlad gave him a sideways glance. "Now who's the liar?" He walked a few feet closer to the factory, and Yugi's discomfort grew. His breath was coming out in short bursts like he was trying not to scream and even from where Yami was standing, he could see how pale Yugi was becoming. Something needed to be done fast.

Yami thought back to when he and Yugi almost took down Aelfric together. Their powers combined somehow and it needed to happen again. However, that power activated when they made contact before and there was no way that it was happening right now. But maybe Yami could activate it from a distance? It was worth a try…

Ignoring what was going on around him, which was hard, Yami forced himself to think of the old days…back when they were the best of friends and fighting to save the world together. That positive energy started to build up until it burst out of him and Yugi at the same time. The force caused Vlad to drop Yugi and all of the windows to shatter completely in the factory. The force that had Yami immobile was now gone. Yugi landed on his feet and rushed at Vlad who was sent flying. Yami knew it was now or never so he reached for the vampiric powers within him and rushed to meet the alpha in midair. He slashed at the man who was sent careening into a building. Smoke came flying out as if a fire started inside.

However, as soon as the power started, it left. Yami wasn't able to keep it going on his own so the power boost faded away. Yugi collapsed immediately on his hands and knees looking feverish. Yami rushed over to him and had to partially drag him away from the factory, as he seemed unable to walk by himself. Once Yami could no longer feel the draining effects of the factory, he stopped but wasn't able to get a more than a word out before Vlad reappeared from the hole in the building from which he was forced. He looked as indifferent as ever, and brushed some dust off of his suit.

"Well I wasn't expecting that," he said looking at Yami. "The two of you show some promise for sure. It does seem that you two are connected somehow. Like two halves of a whole…"

Yami didn't say anything and the only sounds were that of Yugi's shaky breathing. What was Vlad thinking? Was he going to kill them both because of what they just did? It seemed all too possible. Vlad was walking toward them both with his red eyes glowing brighter than ever. He stopped ten yards in front of them and regarded them with a look of interest.

"You both are very interesting." Vlad said as if he was talking to them over afternoon tea. "The two of you will make interesting test subjects."

A sudden bubble of defiance grew in Yami's chest. "We will do no such thing!"

Vlad chuckled. "Ah well that's too bad…because the testing has already started. You have already shown some of your power…and yet I feel that it's only the tip of the iceberg. I desire to see more…so the two of you will come with me."

However, Yami was unable to retort to that because the sound of gunfire shattered the silence that was around them. Yami saw the bullet hit Vlad on the chest, but the bullet seemed to have no effect. It hit the alpha and then bounced off of him as if it hit a solid brick wall. Vlad watched the bullet roll for a second before looking up to see where it had come from. Yami looked too and saw Joey perched on top of a roof of a building that was a little way down the road.

"You guys _might_ wanna take cover!" Joey yelled. He pulled out a large looking gun that Yami had never seen before, and aimed it right at Vlad.

Yami didn't need telling twice. He helped Yugi to stand, and as fast as they could, ran to the nearest building that wasn't the factory. Before they could even get to it, there was a large explosion from behind them where Vlad was standing a second before. Yami didn't dare slow down or look back to see what Joey had fired at the alpha but wanted to get out of range and sight as quickly as possible. The earth shook and glass shattered as the shock wave rippled through the whole block. He and Yugi got behind a building and Yami hoped that Vlad didn't see them run behind it.

Keeping as quiet as possible, Yami listened to the sound of the alpha running towards where Joey was. However, the alpha must not have been able to find the blonde as he ran around and went on top of roof tops, as if searching for them. Yami made sure to keep out of sight as Vlad continued to search for them for several minutes. Finally, the running stopped yet Vlad still had a message.

"I will find you!" Vlad yelled. This was the first time that Yami heard the alpha sounding angry. "You can't hide from me forever! The time will come when all humans are gone!"

He huffed and Yami chanced a small peek out where he thought he heard Vlad at. He caught him just in time to see the alpha disappear in a puff of black darkness. Yami waited several more minutes in silence to be sure that Vlad was truly gone before letting out a sigh of relief. They had escaped Vlad's clutches for the time being, but what were they going to do now? He looked at Yugi who had not said much and was still looking feverish. Yami kneeled down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, growing more concerned when the air around him felt freezing.

"Yugi?" Yami said. Yugi didn't answer at first but took in a few shuddering breaths before speaking.

"I-I'm okay…" Yugi managed to say.

Yami highly doubted that was true. While he didn't know what it was like to be exposed to all those anit-vampire wardings like that, not to mention the silver inside the factory itself, he imagined that it could do some damage to even a half vampire. However, Yami had a feeling that Yugi didn't want to admit that for some reason.

The sounds of movement on their left caught Yami's attention. He tensed thinking that Vlad had returned, but when he looked Yami was relieved to see Joey and Mokuba coming towards them.

"You guys…"

"I didn't hit you two with that, did I?" Joey asked looking worried.

"No…" Yami said. "What was that? What did you fire at him?"

"Don't worry about it," Joey said waving his hand dismissively. "I only had enough ammo for one shot anyway. I hit him…but it didn't really do much. It messed with his senses for sure though. He couldn't find any of us!"

"It allowed us to get away... so thank you. He wanted to take us away for experiments."

"Say _what_?"

"Hey," Mokuba spoke up. "Yugi, are you alright?"

"...Yeah," Yugi said quietly. He was still panting heavily and Yami was getting more worried. What were those wardings programmed to do?

"What happened to you?" Joey kneeled down next to him as well. "Was it that alpha jerk?"

Yugi shook his head and seemed unwilling to talk, so Yami decided that he would tell them what happened. When he was finished, Joey looked outraged.

"Why that no good, son of a…" Joey gave a sideways glance at Mokuba as if considering his wordings. "…jerk-face. I'm gonna get a bigger gun so I can give that alpha a good smack in his perfect teeth."

"Joey, what were those wards around the factory designed to do?" Yami asked. "Is there any way to reverse it?"

Joey sighed, as if trying to control his anger. "Well they're programmed to do a bunch of different things. Some drain energy, others paralyze and there are a few more. I don't know which ones were near where you guys were at though, but even if I did remember what they were, we never researched on how to reverse them. The effects might just wear off on their own."

"Where did look _that_ up, Joey?" Mokuba asked with a raised eyebrow. "The internet has been down like…forever."

"They were in books that I found at the library. I could look it up to be sure, but the books are back at base."

"We should probably go back there and find out," Yami said. He was getting more worried about how Yugi was looking. He seemed to be getting whiter still and was unable to stop himself from shaking. However, Yugi suddenly looked up at Joey.

"H-hey Joey…?" he said as if speaking was difficult…which it probably was.

Joey looked at him, surprised and put a hand on his shoulder. "What is it, Yuge?"

Yugi took a deep breath as if preparing himself in order to speak. "I-I'm sorry for…yelling at you earlier. I d-didn't mean to…"

A mix of emotions came over Joey's face. Yami recognized shock, fear and concern and he kind of understood why. Right now, it was like the old Yugi was back apologizing for something he didn't need to be sorry for. It was totally unlike the version of Yugi that Yami saw earlier that baited him to fight the vampires by himself. Yami wasn't sure if this behavior was brought on by the fact that Yugi was almost killed or by something else entirely. Either way, it was a little disconcerting and it was obvious that Joey thought the same way.

"Yuge…you don't need to apologize," Joey said sounding confused. "It's been a rough couple of days. Everyone's stressed out so don't worry about it, alright?"

Yugi didn't say anything but looked back at the ground as if trying to regain his strength. Joey looked at Yami.

"Can't you do that healing thing you did before?"

Yami blinked. He had completely forgotten about the healing he had used on Yugi before. However, the last time he used it, it had drained him. Currently, Yami didn't have much energy so he doubted that he would be able to pull it off. Still, he felt the need to try.

"Let me see…" Yami reached for that same power within him and tried to think of the good days once more. However, his energy was lower than it was before and, like he thought, was unable to heal Yugi. The energy came up and then faded back down. "Um…yes well, that's not going to work…"

"Back to Plan A it is, then…" Joey sighed. "Can you walk Yugi?"

Yugi didn't answer so Joey tried lifting him up into a standing position. Yami came on his other side to help as well but Yugi didn't seem capable of standing at all. His legs didn't seem able to support any kind of weight. So Joey took Yugi's arms, draped them over his shoulders and lifted Yugi onto his back, supporting him by the legs, kind of like a piggy-back ride.

"I gotcha," he said. He looked at Yami and Mokuba. "Let's go…"

As they walked back towards the town dump, Yami let his mind wander. What kind of experiments did Vlad want to do on them? The Alpha had a strange fascination with the two of them and it made Yami feel uneasy. Not to mention that he felt as though there was something Yugi wasn't telling them about his initial contact with Vlad. Sure, Yami could see the Alpha being interested in the first two half-vampires, but Vlad almost seemed obsessed with them coming with him. Yami wished he could ask Yugi about it more, but even if he did remember, Yugi probably wouldn't be able or willing to say anything.

As they walked, Joey led the way, winding through different roads to avoid the vampire nests that were located on them. Yami could already smell the stench of the landfill and it wasn't even in sight yet. However, the sounds of running footsteps distracted him from the stink.

There were about ten of them. All vampires, and they circled the four of them before stopping to stare at them, preventing any sort of escape.

"Woah, what's going on here?" Mokuba said aloud, his voice filled with fear.

"We're here to take you all in…" one vampire said, her eyes practically glowing red with malice. "Per Vlad's orders."

"That's right," a familiar voice said. Due to everything happening so fast, Yami's brain was slow to respond. He didn't recognize who said the voice until he turned around to face the vampire that said it.

"Tristan?!"

* * *

I appreciate all the reviews you've given thus far! Thank you!

Yugisrose


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